Bakhtar Aminzai, a former member of Meshrano Jirga, the Upper House of the Parliament in Afghanistan, claimed that he was fired from his post after President Ashraf Ghani asked him not to run against the Senate Speaker Fazl Hadi Muslimyar in an internal election at the Afghan Senate last year to elect the speaker of the house.

Aminzai, who was appointed as the member of the Senate by Ghani six months ago, said the president fired him after he resisted his order. 

“When I decided to nominate myself in the next round of elections for the post of Senate speaker, the minister of parliamentary affairs Farooq Wardak warned me to reverse my decision as per the guidance of the president (Ashraf Ghani),” Aminzai said at a press conference in Kabul on Monday.

Aminzai says he was also asked by Muslimyar not to run for the seat.

“The Meshrano Jirga does not work as the representative of the nation; they work as the slaves of government and they do whatever government dictates them,” Jawed Ghafoor, head of Meshrano Jirga’s International Relations Commission, said t the press conference.

Muslimyar, meanwhile, rejected the allegations.

The Presidential Palace said the state ministry of parliamentary affairs Farooq Wardak will respond to the allegations.

Wardak pledged to respond but did not comment on the issue despite repeated attempts by TOLOnews.

“When a senator is selected for a five-year term, the president does not have the authority to determine his tenure,” said legal expert Wahid Farzaee.

Last week, Ghani in a decree appointed Attaullah Ludin to replace Aminzai.