By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Self-styled
Afghan opposition leader Yunus Qanuni was elected president of the lower
house of parliament on Wednesday, narrowly beating a former factional leader
allied to President Hamid Karzai.
Qanuni, an ethnic Tajik who came a distant second to Karzai in presidential elections last year, was chosen to lead the 249-seat lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, with 122 votes to 117 for his closest challenger, Abdul Rabb Rasoul Sayyaf.
"Mr Qanuni has got the majority of votes and we congratulate him on his victory," said the interim president of the house, Habibullah Ramin, in announcing the result.
Qanuni's election and the fact Sayyaf came a close second, will be a disappointment to human rights groups, who have accused both of links to rights abuses.
The Wolesi Jirga was inaugurated on Monday as part of Afghanistan's first elected parliament in more than 30 years, the culmination of a U.N.-backed plan to bring democracy launched after the Taliban's overthrow in 2001.
Rights groups and poll observers say the September polls that led to the formation of the parliament were marred by fraud and resulted in assemblies dominated by warlords and their proxies.
Sibghatullah Mojadidi, president of the first mujahideen (holy warrior) government of the early 1990s and a close ally of Karzai, was picked to head the 102-seat upper house on Tuesday.
Tuesday's first full session of the lower house saw emotional exchanges between rights activists and former factional commanders from Afghanistan's long civil war.
CRITIC SHOUTED DOWN
Woman MP Malalai Joya, an outspoken critic of former warlords who secured assembly seats and has vowed to take them on, was shouted down when she tried to read a statement in that session.
On Wednesday, Joya said she was saddened as Qanuni was a "warlord". "It is a big pity," she told Reuters.
On Monday, Qanuni called the term warlord outmoded and said the popular vote should be respected, a comment that appeared to underline fears that some MPs will try to block bids to bring war criminals and rights abusers to justice.
Three women's rights activists had stood in the contest to lead the house, but garnered only a small number of votes.
Qanuni is from the Panjsher Valley, the heart of opposition to Soviet occupation in the 1980s and Taliban rule in the 1990s.
He was a senior leader of the Northern Alliance that helped U.S.-led forces topple the Taliban in 2001 and became interior minister in Karzai's interim government.
Relations cooled when Karzai demoted him to education minister in 2002 and he resigned after announcing his candidature for the presidential election in October last year.
Qanuni has tried to form an opposition bloc called the Understanding Front and warned before the election that it might not support all of Karzai's cabinet choices, which have to be endorsed by parliament.
Cheerful after his victory, Qanuni told reporters such decisions would not be his alone. "Decisions about ministers or about the reform of the cabinet will be up to members of the Wolesi Jirga," he said.
Analysts say Karzai appears to have enough support in parliament to avoid major problems, but could face difficulties with appointments given disappointment at his administration's failure to improve people's lives and carry out crucial reforms.
Officials said on Monday Karzai was considering reshuffling his cabinet and shrinking its size from 27 ministries.