MPs furious over Saleh’s comments about ‘corrupt lawmakers’

The Wolesi Jirga, or Lower House of Parliament, on Tuesday canceled its session which was scheduled to hear operational plans by nominee ministers after First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said some MPs were corrupt.

Saleh made the remarks during a sideline session at the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan on Monday.

He said: “Corruption by certain members of the parliament is big. Very big.”

“To this date, unfortunately, Afghanistan hasn’t been able to bring any member of the parliament to justice.”

Saleh also said: “This is a forgotten corner,” and that “to this date, ministers, generals, directors and even politicians of high stature have been charged but no member of the parliament has paid any price for their involvement in corruption.”

Reacting to this, MPs on Tuesday said they will not start the process of hearing plans from nominee ministers until Saleh has clarified his remarks.

They also warned that they will not approve the budget for the next fiscal year until this issue has been resolved.

This comes after Amrullah Saleh accused some members of parliament of widespread corruption at a Geneva meeting yesterday.