Senate Approves Presidential Order For Hindu Seat

altTuesday, 24 December 2013 17:45Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 December 2013 11:32, Written by Saleha Soadat :

The Upper House of Parliament unanimously approved a Presidential order from Hamid Karzai that would create one seat for the Hindu and Sikh minority groups on Tuesday.

The Lower House has rejected the order last month, saying it was contrary to Afghanistan’s Constitution.

In a legislative decree, President Hamid Karzai had asked Parliament to implement changes in the election so as to allocate one seat to the Hindu minority. The legislative order further says that a special election constituency should be considered in the election law for the Hindu minority.

Members of the Upper House said the Hindu minority should have a seat as ten seats have already been allocated to the Kochis (nomads).

“The presidential order was approved in majority and only seven votes were casted against the order,” Senate Chairman Fazel Hadi Muslimyar said.

A joint parliamentary commission will now discuss the future of the order.

“The senate’s decision is not the final stage, it will be referred to the joint parliamentary commission, and we hope that the joint commission approves the order,” Hindu Senator Anarkali Honaryar said.

The Lower House consists of 249 seats. In a presidential order president Karzai had asked the lawmakers to allocate one seat to the Hindu minority and increase the number of seats to 250.

Source: Tolonews.com