Afghan Wolesi Jirga, or the lower house of the parliament, approved the nomination of Abdul Rahim Wardak for the post of the defense minister in the new cabinet on Saturday, Xinhua reported.
Wardak, who is currently serving as the Defense Minister, has secured 124 votes out of 232 in the secret voting process which started on Saturday morning, according to speaker of the lower house Mohammad Yunus Qanooni.
Wardak, 70, was a former Mujahideen leader in the fight against Soviet in the 1980s. He was appointed as the defense minister by President Hamid Karzai on Dec. 23, 2004.
Karzai introduced 24 ministerial nominees last month, many of whom are incumbent or former ministers.