Afghan lawmakers on Saturday decided to vote by secret ballot on the impeachment of 11 "incompetent" ministers who spent less than 50 percent of their budget last fiscal year.
"Forty-eight representatives have petitioned that the voting should be conducted by secret ballot because they want to vote without any shame or fear; this has been approved by the majority [of the chamber]," said Speaker Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, displaying the sheet containing the signatures.
In the same session lawmakers also decided to bypass the normal procedure to collect the minimum required 50 signatures for a successful impeachment petition, saying the body's general decision last week to impeach the ministers was enough.
The two decisions touched off a verbal drama on the floor, with some lawmakers criticizing the secret ballot, others sparring with the speaker.
Qandhar MP Khalid Pashtoon excoriated his colleagues for agreeing to secret balloting. "Why do representatives feel shame in voting? If they feel shame, why did they become lawmakers?" he asked, adding, "It's all excuses."
Kabul MP Daoud Kalakani declared the secret ballot illegal because of a lack of transparency. A number of other lawmakers suggested that voting by secret ballot allows the speaker to secretly deal with executive power.
"Mr Ibrahimi, are you parliament speaker or head of the cabinet? Please do not try to save the ministers this time; otherwise, the lawmakers will decide on your dismissal," said Kandahar MP Mohammad Naeem Lalai Hamidzai.
Hamidzai was alluding to parliament's unsuccessful attempt to impeach Minister of Water and Power Ismail Khan two weeks ago.
Speaker Ibrahimi denied any allegations of back-channel dealings with the administration and shot back at Hamidzai:
"The speaker alone cannot decide on the impeachment of ministers; it is you, the lawmakers, who can make the final decision [but] you, the lawmakers, always bring tribal, regional and sectarian discussions into impeachment proceedings."
Afghan lawmakers had agreed on Wednesday to impeach the 11 ministers who have not spent more than 50 percent of their ministry's budget.
The 11 ministries with so-called underspent budgets include Energy and Water, Education, Counter Narcotics, Economy, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Higher Education, Information and Culture, Urban Development, and Mines and Industries.