1st LD Writethru: Key minister candidates endorsed by Afghan lawmakers

Several key minister candidates, nominated by Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, were endorsed by lawmakers at the ongoing national legislative session here on Wednesday afternoon.

The Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, gave vote of confidence to Noor-ul-Haq Ulumi to lead the ministry of interior affairs, Eklil Hakimi as minister of finance while Salauddin Rabbani was endorsed as the minister of foreign affairs.

Earlier in the day, Rahmattullah Nabil received the vote of confidence to lead the National Directorate of Security (NDS), while Firozuddin Firoz was endorsed as the minister of public health.

However, Shir Mohammad Karimi, who was nominated for minister of defense, failed to receive more than half of the vote or 122 votes of 243 votes cast by the legislators.

In Wednesday's voting, the lawmakers endorsed eight minister- designates besides Nabil as the chief of NDS and rejected nine others.

On Jan. 20, president Ghani presented 25 minister candidates and one nominee each for the National Directorate for Security ( NDS), the country's intelligence agency, and the Da Afghanistan Bank, the country's central bank, to the lower house of the parliament for approval.

Eight minister-designates and the nominated governor for the Da Afghanistan Bank are being investigated by the lower house since a couple of days ago mainly due to dual-citizenship and lack of educational documents.

As the parliament goes for winter recess from Jan. 29, the president would introduce the remaining 17 minister-designates and governor for the central bank within the next 45 days when the parliament winter vacation ends. Endi