Afghan lawmakers reject 2nd defense minister nominee
The Afghan parliament has voted down President Ashraf Ghani’s second nominee for minister of defense, leaving the key position vacant after nine months as Taliban militants are pushing ahead with their attacks across the war-torn country.
On Saturday, Mohammad Masoum Stanikzai, who was nominated by Ghani on July 1, failed to win a vote of confidence from legislators.
Of 213 lawmakers who participated in the voting process, only 84 voted in favor of the proposed defense minister. Stanikzai was required to get 107 votes to win the seat.
A total of 104 parliamentarians voted against Stanikzai and 25 abstained.
Ghani’s first choice, currently army chief of staff General Sher Mohammad Karimi, was rejected by parliament in mid-April.
The Afghan president is yet to name a new defense minister candidate. The eventual pick will be his third nominee for the post.
Analysts state that the limbo over the powerful security post is indicative of ethnic differences at the heart of Afghan politics.
Supporters of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah believe that Ghani is seeking to put Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, Pashtuns, in key positions to marginalize Tajiks, who have held most security posts for the decade after the Taliban's ouster.
Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity years after soldiers from the United States and its allies marched through the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
MP/NN/HRB
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