Jordan Times
Friday - Saturday, November 23 -24, 2001
King appoints new Senate
By Dima Hamdan
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday replaced 27 senators of the 40-seat Upper House in his first senatorial appointment under his reign.The new Chamber includes two former prime ministers, three women, two former intelligence directors and a former army chief.
The King maintained former Premier Zeid Rifai at the helm of the Chamber as Senate president.
A government and parliamentary veteran, Rifai served in the Senate intermittently for a total of nearly 19 years. He was appointed prime minister in 1973 and 1985, and his portfolio includes ambassadorial posts in Egypt, Lebanon, the UK, and the United Nations.
One of the newcomers is former Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh, who was the first premier to be appointed by King Abdullah, after he ascended the Throne in February 1999.
The new Chamber also includes three former deputies from the 13th Parliament, which was dissolved in June. They are Sa'ad Hayel Srour, a former House speaker, Abdul Razzaq Nsour and Samir Kawar, both former ministers, and Amjad Majali, who was Jordan's ambassador in Bahrain, Greece and Cyprus.
Two female senators, Alia Abu Tayeh and Salwa Masri, came in, and another two went out, Leila Sharaf and Rima Khalaf. Abu Tayeh was a university professor and Masri is a former minister of Social Development. The third female senator is Subhiyeh Ma'ani.
The odd member in a predominantly centrist Chamber is Abdul Rahim Akour, a former member of the Islamic Action Front and the Muslim Brotherhood. Akour was also the minister of municipal, rural and environmental affairs in the government of Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb.
Anticipations over the appointment of the new Senate was the making of many media reports and columns over recent days, not only because this was the first Chamber to be formed by the King, but also because it was to take place in the absence of the Lower House.
The Monarch kept his aides, and the nation, on their toes for weeks as he kept a tight lid on the composition of the new Chamber. But as was widely expected, he kept the number of seats at 40.
According to the Constitution, the number of senators should not exceed half the number of deputies. This summer, the government endorsed a new Elections Law, which increased the number of seats in the Lower House from 80 to 104. Although this means that the King may increase the number of senators from 40 to 52, analysts said he wanted to keep his options open in case a force majeure compelled him to reinstate the 13th Parliament.
In principle, general elections are widely expected to be held in September 2002, but Article 73 of the Constitution allows the King to reinstate the old Chamber should an emergency situation arise.
If this happens, it would be unconstitutional to have a Lower House of 80 deputies, and an Upper House of 52 senators.