Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Afghan Parliament, is expected to put an end to the controversy over the speaker position today.
Naimatullah Karyab, representing eastern Kunar province, told reporters on Monday that the house will first decide to weather vote in open or secret on the fate the contentious vote which had an extra sign other than a tick.
Karyab said that most of the lower house members including supporters the contenders for the speaker position, Rahmani and Usolui, had agreed that the fate of the controversial vote would be decided today to end the lengthy delay into the election.
The lawmakers would first decide whether the voting for the speaker slot would be secret or open.
“Not only the two sides but most of the MPs have agreed to put to an end to the ongoing crisis and tomorrow (today) they would conduct voting for this purpose,” he said.
Earlier, there was disagreement over the conduct of the voting process, but now the house would decide the nature of voting and a two-thirds majority was vital for this, Karyab said.
On May 16, lawmakers Mir Rahman Rahmani, Mirwais Yasini, Kamal Naser Osuli and Omar Nasir contested for the speaker post.
However, none succeeded to bag the necessary 50+ votes to win the chairmanship of the house the ballot went to a second round, which was deferred.
Mir Rahmani and Osuli, who received the highest numbers of votes, were in the run for the slot in the second round of voting.
Atta Mohammad Dehqanpor, provisional speaker, had said there were 247 lawmakers present in the house and a candidate was required to collect 124 votes to win the seat.
In the second round, Rahmani bagged 123 votes — one vote short of the threshold — and Osuli collected 55 votes. However, Dehqanpur declared Rahmani as winner, triggering a dispute among lawmakers.
After two days of the tussle, the lower house on last Wednesday assigned a 27-member delegation, including 10 members of an earlier delegation, to resolve the dispute.
