KABUL (SW): A move by the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) to summon Mohammad Masoum Stanikzai, head of the National Directorate of Security, got controversial in the house on Wednesday.
Few weeks back, some members signed the form for this purpose and the committee of the chairmen of the house on Tuesday decided to summon the NDS chief for next Wednesday. However, members of the house today opposed this move described as a violation of the principles of the WJ.
One such MP, Mohammad Akbar Stanikzai, clarified the WJ’s principles of duties and the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution have declared summoning of the NDS chief as illegal. He said the forms for this purpose are not filled inside the house, but in private locations ‘under pressure and lure’.
Obaidullah Barakzai, another MP, said the move to summon NDS chief has personal enmity behind it. He said 15 members of the committee of the chairmen of the house boycotted the meeting on this matter, and only five members under pressure from one MP voted in favor of it while seven voted against it.
Speaker of the house, Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, informed the house the forms have been signed by 48 members, and those members calling it illegal should deal with it legally.
The matter of WJ summoning top officials has caused uproar in the past as well. In this regard, the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution has ruled summoning heads of the NDS, Da Afghanistan Bank, Attorney General, Chief Justice and head of the Afghanistan Red Crescent is illegal.
ENDS