Showdown looms between legislators, minister

KABUL on Wednesday decided to summon Interior Minister Mujtaba Patang yet again, paving the grounding for a new political showdown.

Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi announced the lower house decision, saying the date for summons would be firmed up by heads of different parliamentary panels.

Asked to appear before the assembly and answer legislators’ queries on his recent remarks today, the minister failed to turn up — something that angered the MPs.

Last month, Patang told the National Security Council (NSC) he had been summoned 32 times by the Wolesi Jirga and 14 times by the Meshrano Jirga.

Over the last four months, the minister said, public representatives had inundated him with 15,200 applications. The ministerial utterances have drawn angry reactions from both houses, which slammed his remarks an insult to lawmakers.

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