The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has unilaterally taken control of the country’s top electoral watchdog , provoking outrage from western diplomats, the Guardian has learnt.

The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which forced Karzai into a runoff election after it disqualified nearly 1m fraudulent votes in last year’s presidential election, previously included three foreign experts named by the UN.

However, according to a new presidential decree published today, Karzai will have the exclusive power to appoint all five panel members.

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Diplomatic sources say Kai Eide, the head of the UN in Afghanistan, had struck a private deal with Karzai under which he will use his new powers to appoint at least two foreigners to the election watchdog.

But that will mean Karzai’s Afghan appointees would hold the balance of power in the commission and be unlikely to challenge his wishes.