KABUL – Afghan *Lawmakers in the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesdaydecided to impeach the chief of the National Directorate of Security (NDS)Mohammad Masoum Stanikzai on next Wednesday over a number of issues*,Ariana News has reported.
Speaker of the House Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said the decision was made after48 lawmakers signed a petition for Mr. Stanikzai’s impeachment.
Mr. Ibrahimi added that the impeachment of NDS Chief has been included inthe agenda for the next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a number of lawmakers criticized the decision to impeach Mr.Stanikzai.
Munawar Shah Bahaduri, Member of Parliament representing Herat provincesaid that 12 lawmakers were against the impeachment of Mr. Stanikzai, buttheir votes were not counted.
“If the NDS Chief was called for an impeachment we will leave the Housebecause personnel issues are the main motive behind the decision,” said anMP from Nangarhar, Saima Khogyani.
However, First Deputy Speaker of the House Humayoun Humayoun told ArianaNews that Mr. Stanikzai has been impeached over the spike in militarycasualties, the politicization of security institutions and for provokingethnic issues.
“The petition was signed due to the specific reasons including thepoliticization of security institutions, high casualties of intelligencepersonnel by assassinations and provoking ethnic and linguistic issues,”Mr. Humayoun said.
About 10 Days ago, MPs summoned Mr. Stanikzai to answer questions oversecurity concerns but the session with NDS Chief was held behind closeddoors.