Jordan Times
Monday, March 16, 1998
17 deputies withdraw from session in protest against
Tel Aviv visit
By Fairouz Abu-Ghazaleh
AMMAN — In a show of protest against a visit by Lower House
speaker and a parliamentary delegation to Tel Aviv last week, 17
angry deputies walked out at the start of Sunday’s House
session.
House Speaker Sa’d Hayel Srour and eight other deputies
accompanied His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan during his
visit to Israel last week.
“Your visit to the Zionist state, which gave the impression
that Parliament is normalising relations with Israel, does not
reflect the pulse of Jordanian people, the majority of which
opposes the idea of normalisation and collaboration with the
enemy,” said the statement, signed by 18 deputies.
Mr. Srour defended the visit and said that he and the deputies
who accompanied the Crown Prince to Tel Aviv represented the
majority of the House and not only opposition deputies. Mr. Srour
was accompanied by Deputies Ziad Shweikh, Ali Abul Ragheb, Bassam
Haddadin, Nawaf Khawaldeh, Sami Khasawneh, Nayef Moula, Riyad
Daoud and Abdullah Jazi.
“What drives us is what is in the best interest of this
country,” the speaker told the House.
During a heated debate, some deputies criticised the visit while
others defended and praised it.
“We condemn this visit... which does not represent
Parliament’s position,” Islamist Deputy Abdullah
Akaileh told reporters after his withdrawal.
On the other hand, Deputy Lutfi Barghouti showed “extreme
surprise at how some colleagues are claiming to be
overnationalistic, whereas (the trip) was for the benefit of the
homeland.. not a vacation.”
With less than 50 deputies present, the House then moved to
discuss remarks that were allegedly made by Interior Minister
Nathir Rashid.
The weekly Shihan tabloid, quoting a Gulf newspaper, said Mr.
Rashid had allegedly accused Ma’an deputies of spreading
lies and falsehoods about him.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour denied that Mr. Rashid made
such remarks.
The Ma’an deputies had earlier demanded that the minister
resign accusing him of being responsible for the riots that hit
the town last month and left one person killed and 26 injured.
Dr. Ensour said the government held the deputies in utmost
respect. “In the name of the government I deny that the
interior minister had made these slanderous remarks to any
newspaper under any circumstances,” Dr. Ensour asserted.
Mr. Rashid also denied the allegations saying they were
groundless and echoed Dr. Ensour’s words that he deeply
appreciates and respects the Ma’an deputies.
Meanwhile, the government promised the House to present it with a
new draft election law before the end of the present House’s
session, expected to last till the end of this month.