Jordan Times
Monday, June 21, 2004
House votes against amendment of article in NCHR Law
By Sahar Aloul
AMMAN — Debate concluded on the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) Law on
Sunday with the Lower House retracting its decision to boycott Israeli human
rights organisations.
A House majority, 58 out of 95 MPs present, voted
against a controversial amendment to Article 5 (j) of the 2002 temporary law to
exclude the “Jewish entity and those who support it” from any form of
cooperation and coordination in the field of human rights.
Apart from the Islamic Action Front (IAF) bloc members, who were staunchly
opposed to removing the new clause, none of the six other Lower House blocs
voted in unison. Moreover, MP Abdur-Rau'f S. Rawabdeh, who played a pivotal role
in drafting and passing the initial suggestion, voted against keeping it in the
end.
Deputies for and against the amendment strongly defended their positions at the
start of the session.
“Human rights organisations are international bodies and should be treated in
that global perspective,” said MP Mustafa Shneikat, who voted for scrapping the
amendment article.
Several deputies offered alternatives to the amendment, none of which were
accepted, ranging from severing relations with Zionist organisations only to
changing the wording from “Jewish entity” to Israel.
Deliberations on the NCHR Law began two weeks ago when former IAF MP Abdul Munim
Abu Zant succeeded in passing his proposal to sever cooperation with “the Jewish
entity.”
Upon concluding debate on the entire legislation, however, several lawmakers
requested a revote on the article and managed to secure a House majority to
scrap the new amendments.
Two other laws were discussed and approved during the session, including an
amending law to the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) legislation,
returned to the House by the Senate.
The law, which introduces and defines the relationship between ASEZA's chief
commissioner and the ASEZ governor, was earlier rejected by the legislature
during the ordinary session.
The divisive Article 18 states that the governor's authority should be defined
through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the minister of interior and
the ASEZA chief commissioner.
The House's earlier rejection was based on the fact that there is no room in
Jordanian legislation for such an MoU to exist.
But the legislature appeared to be convinced by the Senate's insistence on
keeping the article and withdrew their earlier opposition to the law.
Rawabdeh, who remains sceptical about the special economic zone concept, again
went back on his earlier position in rejecting the law saying, “I am giving my
vote so that I don't get blamed for the zone's [failure], since with or without
a governor, the ASEZ will not succeed anyway.”
The legislature also passed the Industry and Trade Law No. 69, and the Transport
Law No. 48, which governs the Public Transport Regulatory Commission's
activities.
Debates on the Competition Law, started during the session, and will resume on
Wednesday.