Jordan Times
Friday, June 4, 2004
Royal Decree calls on Parliament to convene in extraordinary session on Saturday
By Sahar Aloul
AMMAN — A Royal Decree was issued on Thursday calling on Parliament to convene
in an extraordinary session as of Saturday.
In the decree, His Majesty King Abdullah summoned the chamber to convene in
order to endorse 64 temporary and draft laws and two internal laws.
The laws include the controversial Personal Status Law, widely known as the
Khuloe Law, which allows a woman to divorce her husband, and the Civil Status
Law. Both laws were previously rejected by the Lower House and returned to them
by the Senate.
A majority of the House —71 MPs — went through the constitutional process of
requesting the convening of this extraordinary session, which expected to end by
mid-August.
“It is not likely the legislature will be able to go through all items on its
agenda,” one Lower House source who declined to be named told The Jordan Times.
But the same source expected discussions to be “fairly calm” and uneventful,
particularly with the absence of the unscheduled topics agenda which usually
sparked confrontation between MPs and the government over current affairs
issues.
MP Mamdouh Abbadi (Amman, 3rd District) also did not anticipate any “hiccups”
during this “purely legislative session.”
“Apart from the laws that were previously rejected by the House and returned to
us by the Senate, including the Personal Status and Media laws, I believe the
session will run smoothly,” Abbadi told The Jordan Times.
In accordance with Article 82 of the Constitution, no topics other than those
specified in the Royal Decree convening the extraordinary session may be
discussed.
But an unwritten understanding between the House and the government was
established whereby deputies could voice their concerns on any particular issue
in a closed meeting during the duration of the extraordinary session.
An additional seven new laws proposed by the government are also tabled for
deliberation, including amended laws on sales and income tax and education.
The House, however, is still bearing the brunt of endorsing 211 temporary laws
passed by the previous government of former Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb in
the two-year absence of the legislature.
During the past two parliamentary sessions, 68 laws were studied and passed by
the House — 26 during the extraordinary session and 42 during the ordinary one.
Abbadi expected the House to complete the endorsement of all temporary laws
within the coming two years insisting that studying these laws “does not in any
way interfere with deputies' other constitutional roles.”
“As an MP, I am not just a legislator I am also a [watchdog] over the
government's performance,” he said.
MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh (Balqaa, 1st District) agreed, but said the temporary laws
passed by the former government remain a burden on the legislative authority.
“These temporary laws do constitute a burden on the House but I am not with
speeding up the process of endorsing them, we need to take our time studying
these laws,” Kharabsheh, a lawyer, said.
He added that the large number of amended laws being returned to the House by
the government for endorsement is a clear indication that some laws are not
being given adequate time or attention in legislative debates under the Dome.
Kharabsheh stressed that despite the heavy load of temporary laws facing the
14th Parliament, MPs are still introducing new legislation through the
constitutional framework.
According to Article 95 of the Constitution 10 or more senators or deputies may
propose a law, which will then be referred to the proper House committee for
examination and then to the government for drafting as a draft law in lieu of
endorsement by Parliament.