Malalai Joya shot to fame when she stood up during deliberations to approve a new constitution in 2003 and denounced factional commanders as criminals who should be put on trial.

Now 27, Joya will find herself rubbing shoulders with many of the same warlords in a Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) elected along with provincial councils in landmark Sept. 18 polls.

The U.N.-Afghan election commission released final provisional results from the first two of 34 provinces on Thursday, showing Joya had come second in Farah in the west with 7,813 votes, or seven percent of those cast there.

Women were guaranteed one seat in the remote province, but Joya won under her own steam.

Chief Electoral Officer Peter Erben said the vote count was complete apart from ballots from more than 1,000 of the nearly 27,000 polling stations quarantined due to suspected fraud.

Nearly complete partial results from the rest of the country country show that dozens of factional strongmen, dubbed warlords by their critics, appear to have won seats in the assembly.

Self-styled opposition leader Yunus Qanuni predicted before the vote that his Understanding Front would win 50 percent of assembly seats and warned it might block cabinet appointments.

But some analysts doubt it has such backing and say the way parliament votes will largely depend on policies Karzai pursues.