Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Karzai Set Opens Inaugural Meeting of Parliament VOA News 26 January 2011 Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C) shows respect to members of the new parliament after giving an oath in Kabul, 26 Jan 2011 Photo: REUTERS Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C) shows respect to members of the new parliament after giving an oath in Kabul, 26 Jan 2011 Afghan President Hamid Karzai has opened a new session of the lower house of parliament, ending a political standoff with lawmakers. President Karzai was expected to swear in the legislature's 249 members during Wednesday's ceremony. The president had asked lawmakers to wait another month, saying a special tribunal needed more time to investigate fraud claims related to the September 18 election. Mr. Karzai however agreed to go through with the inaugural meeting, earlier this week, following pressure from the United Nations, the United States and other key players. Lawmakers had threatened to convene parliament with or without the support of the Afghan president. They charged that the tribunal, set up by Mr. Karzai, was unconstitutional. The dispute over the September elections, marred by widespread fraud, has left Afghanistan without a parliament for nearly six months. The final election results for the lower house of parliament were not announced until December 1, after officials reviewed about 5,000 fraud claims. Charges included vote-rigging and voter intimidation by local warlords.  The Independent Election Commission disqualified nearly one quarter of the votes and disqualified 24 candidates who had appeared to win seats. Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP. .