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Afghan lawmakers urge Karzai to inaugurate new parliament

Other News Materials 14 December 2010 18:14 (UTC +04:00)

A group of newly elected lawmakers urged President Hamid Karzai Tuesday to inaugurate the new parliament amid tensions regarding the legality of results in the fraud-tainted polls, dpa reported.

The group, including the outgoing spokesman for the lower house, Yunus Qanooni, met the president on Tuesday, the presidential palace said.

Karzai assured the lawmakers he would open the new parliament in accordance with the country's constitution.

The attorney general on the weekend asked the Supreme Court to annul the results of the September 18 parliamentary elections, as his office found members of Independent Election Commission (IEC) were complicit in vote-rigging.

Prosecutors have already opened a criminal investigation into the poll and arrested at least 12 people including IEC staff and summoned four electoral officials for questioning.

IEC chief Fazel Ahmad Manawi said Sunday the attorney general's request to the court was "unlawful" and and "irresponsible statement," warning the move could lead the country into crisis. He also challenged the prosecutors to face the commission in court.

The uncertainty about the validity of the elections, which were marred by massive fraud, has sparked numerous demonstrations organized by hundreds of losing candidates, who demanded the government to scrap the poll results.

The electoral commissions threw out nearly a quarter of the 5.6 million votes cast before announcing the final results.

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