Afghan Wolesi Jirga, or the lower house of the parliament, on Saturday approved the reappointment of Mohammad Hanif Atmar as the interior minister in the new cabinet, XInhua reported.
In the secret ballot attended by 232 present members of the lower house, 147 voted in Atmar's favor, speaker of the house Mohammad Yunus Qanooni announced after the counting of the votes.
Atmar, 42, is the incumbent interior minister of Afghanistan. He had worked with several international humanitarian organizations and served as minister of rural rehabilitation and development and minister of education before.
An ethnic Pashtun, Atmar is a popular figure for some western countries.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Dec. 19, 2009 introduced 24 ministerial nominees. Many of them are incumbent or former ministers. The president did not nominate a candidate for the foreign ministry.