The Afghan government has warned against foreign intervention in a political dispute after lawmakers asked for outside help in reversing a presidential-backed court-ruling that calls for the dismissal of one-quarter of the country's members of parliament.

Lawmakers on Sunday appealed to the United Nations for help in reversing the ruling by a special tribunal set up by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that investigated alleged voter fraud in last year's parliamentary elections. The court disqualified 62 lawmakers who were voted into the 249-seat parliament.

A spokesman for President Karzai said Monday that the issue is an internal dispute and that any external interference will be seen as a “violation of sovereignty.”

Mr. Karzai's critics say the tribunal was set up to counter the elections in which the president's opponents made major gains. They accuse Mr. Karzai of using the tribunal to reshape the membership of parliament more to his liking.

Afghanistan's parliament on Saturday voted to fire the five top judicial officers of the Supreme Court for failing to rule the tribunal illegal and disband it.