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MPs Agree On New Faces To Run For Parliament Speaker

After 35 days of turmoil over the election of new speaker for the parliament, lawmakers on Monday agreed on two new candidates to contest for the position of the speaker so that the current crisis in the house comes to an end. 

From 229 MPs present in the house on Monday, 120 of them voted to invalidate one controversial vote. Meanwhile, 115 MPs voted in favor of the decision to accept the controversial vote. 

Based on this decision, Mir Rahman Rahmani, who got 123 votes in the previous voting, can enter the race only if no one succeeds to get the required votes in the next two rounds of the voting. 

The MPs agreed to hold another voting on Tuesday to elect a new speaker for the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament.

The lawmakers appointed Malik Qais Noor Agha, an MP from Nangarhar, as acting speaker of the parliament. 

The rift began on May 18, when 247 MPs decided to vote Rahmani and Osuli. Based on this quorum, 124 votes were needed for a winning candidate, but 244 MPs cast their votes in which Rahmani got 123 votes while Osuli got 55 votes. A single vote which could determine the fate of the house speaker was announced invalid due to having a dot in the bottom of the ballot paper.

On May 19, a committee of 15 lawmakers was formed to decide on the one controversial vote, but it failed. Another committee of 25 members was formed after that, but it also failed to overcome the rift.

However, on June 18, the lawmakers decided to revote for the two MPs -- either by using secret or public voting. Wednesday's session went into crisis after Osuli's supporters opposed the public voting by MPs.
Rahmani’s supporters said some MPs are trying to disrupt parliament’s order.

Other MPs alleged that some members of the house were deliberately trying to manipulate ethnic issues inside the house. They warned that the current crisis inside the house can lead to the emergence of a parallel house if not curbed.

The ongoing rift in Parliament has created concerns among the political elites and the people as they believe that the newly elected MPs have shown that the country has a "weak" legislature.

The legislators on Wednesday, June 19, were close to agreeing on a final decision on the house speaker when some MPs protested over public voting, which further deepened the crisis and led into a brawl among supporters of the two leading candidates -- Mir Rahman Rahmani and Kamal Nasir Osuli.

MPs Agree On New Faces To Run For Parliament Speaker

MPs in the Wolesi Jirga agreed to hold another voting on Tuesday to elect a new speaker for the house. 

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After 35 days of turmoil over the election of new speaker for the parliament, lawmakers on Monday agreed on two new candidates to contest for the position of the speaker so that the current crisis in the house comes to an end. 

From 229 MPs present in the house on Monday, 120 of them voted to invalidate one controversial vote. Meanwhile, 115 MPs voted in favor of the decision to accept the controversial vote. 

Based on this decision, Mir Rahman Rahmani, who got 123 votes in the previous voting, can enter the race only if no one succeeds to get the required votes in the next two rounds of the voting. 

The MPs agreed to hold another voting on Tuesday to elect a new speaker for the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament.

The lawmakers appointed Malik Qais Noor Agha, an MP from Nangarhar, as acting speaker of the parliament. 

The rift began on May 18, when 247 MPs decided to vote Rahmani and Osuli. Based on this quorum, 124 votes were needed for a winning candidate, but 244 MPs cast their votes in which Rahmani got 123 votes while Osuli got 55 votes. A single vote which could determine the fate of the house speaker was announced invalid due to having a dot in the bottom of the ballot paper.

On May 19, a committee of 15 lawmakers was formed to decide on the one controversial vote, but it failed. Another committee of 25 members was formed after that, but it also failed to overcome the rift.

However, on June 18, the lawmakers decided to revote for the two MPs -- either by using secret or public voting. Wednesday's session went into crisis after Osuli's supporters opposed the public voting by MPs.
Rahmani’s supporters said some MPs are trying to disrupt parliament’s order.

Other MPs alleged that some members of the house were deliberately trying to manipulate ethnic issues inside the house. They warned that the current crisis inside the house can lead to the emergence of a parallel house if not curbed.

The ongoing rift in Parliament has created concerns among the political elites and the people as they believe that the newly elected MPs have shown that the country has a "weak" legislature.

The legislators on Wednesday, June 19, were close to agreeing on a final decision on the house speaker when some MPs protested over public voting, which further deepened the crisis and led into a brawl among supporters of the two leading candidates -- Mir Rahman Rahmani and Kamal Nasir Osuli.

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