KABUL - Afghanistan's upper house on Tuesday rejected the presence of two foreign advisors at the Electoral Complaints Commission with the majority voting against the article approved by parliament last month.
The senators voted against Article 33 of the draft Election Law which allowed for two foreign nationals to be included in the seven-seat board of the Electoral Complaints Commission, saying it went against Afghanistan's sovereignty.
The remaining 35 articles were approved with some amendments.
"With one vote opposing [the rejection of Article 33], the presence of two foreign advisors at the Elections Complaints Commission was not approved," speaker of the Senate Fazal Hadi Muslimyar said.
Senator Mawlawi Urfani said the senators felt that foreign commissioners brought Afghanistan's ability to govern itself into question.
"With the presence of two foreigners in this commission, the Afghanistan government authority comes under question," he told TOLOnews.
A commission made up of members of both parliament and the senate will be formed to make a final decision on Article 33 because the parliament had previously approved it.
The senators also called for the Afghan High Peace Council to clarify rumors that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has died in prison in Pakistan.
"We ask the High Peace Council to provide information about the possible death of Mullah Ghani Baradar," Muslimyar said.
According to an Afghan lawmaker, a Pakistani diplomat recently said that the former deputy of Taliban leader Mullah Omar died in one of Pakistan's jails six months ago.
The comment was apparently made after Afghanistan requested Baradar be released from jail as part of the prisoner release aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.
At least 13 former Taliban officials have been released since the agreement was struck between Afghanistan and Pakistan last week.
TOLOnews was unable to confirm which diplomat allegedly made the claim of Baradar's death.
Baradar in August was reported by the Associated Press to have met with Afghan officials from the embassy in Pakistan. (Tolo News)