Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to open the country's parliament Wednesday, his office said in a statement, after a stand-off with lawmakers which threatened a constitutional crisis. The president and lawmakers clashed over the legality of a Supreme Court special tribunal which is charged with ruling on cases of electoral fraud during parliamentary polls four months ago.
Many lawmakers said they feared it could throw some of their number out and insisted it is unlawful. However, in a sign the president may have been prepared to give ground earlier Monday he referred a letter detailing their demands to the Supreme Court. His office said that Karzai, "in consideration of the letter of the winning candidates, respecting the position of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and in regard to the country's national interests will inaugurate the national assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on Dalv 6 (January 26) of the current year."
The United States and UN had condemned in strong terms last week's announcement by Karzai that he would delay opening parliament for a month.
The special tribunal was charged with ruling on allegations of fraud in September's parliamentary elections, after which around a quarter of the five million votes cast were thrown out and 24 early winners disqualified.