KABUL – In a controversial poll, the new lawmakers of the Wolesi Jirga on Saturday elected Mir Rahman Rahmani as the new speaker for the house, defeating his close rival Kamal Nasir Osuli with 123 votes.
Some MPs opposed the decision to announce Rahmani as speaker of the house as they said he has not received the required votes for the position.
Osuli accused the Wolesi Jirga’s acting speaker Atta Mohammad Dehqanpoor of taking money from Rahmani to make the announcement in his support.
“The speaker announced that the present MPs are 247 and the winner need 124 votes. Then he went to the hall and got one million dollars and came back and announced that Rahmani has been elected as the speaker of the house,” Osuli said as quoted by local media.
Dehqanpoor defying the claim said Rahmani is elected for the post based on a transparent election.
“There were 244 voters of whom three MPs were absent and did not vote. Therefore, we counted the number of those voted and based on this calculation, the winner needed just 123 votes,” Dehqanpoor said as local media reported.
As the speaker of the house, Rahmani vowed to defend the house’s reputation.
“I promise you to defend from your votes, from the house’s reputation and from the Afghan people desires,” Rahmani said.
Rahmani, an MP from Parwan, is a former military general who has completed his studies in Russia in 1982.
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