Afghan Election Results Thrown Out

The New York Times reports:

A special court set up at the behest of President Hamid Karzai on Thursday ordered the reinstatement of 62 candidates who had lost their seats or were disqualified from last year’s parliamentary elections, according to the court’s chief judge, Sediqullah Haqiq.

The move brought Afghanistan a step closer to a constitutional crisis, with the country’s election authorities declaring the special court illegal. That has also been the position of international donor nations which contributed $150 million to finance the elections.

The Afghan Parliament immediately approved a vote of no confidence on Thursday against Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko, who had convened the court on the president’s orders, and who also has brought a series of criminal charges against members of the Independent Elections Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission.