Afghan parliament rejects Karzai takeover of vote panel

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Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Afghan parliament rejects Karzai takeover of vote panel
By Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Wed Mar 31, 4:15 pm ET

KABUL — In another pointed challenge to President Hamid Karzai , Afghan lawmakers Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected his attempts to take control of the independent election panel that uncovered widespread fraud in last year's presidential vote.

Six weeks after Karzai issued a controversial decree giving himself complete power to choose all five members of the nation's Electoral Complaints Commission , Afghanistan's lower house sought to strip the president of his new powers.

Palace officials said Karzai was infuriated by the legislative rebuff and viewed the vote as illegal.

"He's definitely going to fight for it," said one Karzai adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the president's reaction more candidly. "He is very firm on this."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100331/wl_mcclatchy/3465911