Jordan Times
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Lower House committee members named
AMMAN (JT) — Members of 11 Lower House permanent
committees were appointed by consensus on Tuesday, while the membership of three
committees was decided by secret ballot.
The legal, Arab and international affairs and financial committee members were
elected by secret ballot yesterday.
According to the Lower House bylaws, committee membership is decided by secret
ballot if the number of nominees exceeds the seat ceiling.
The other permanent committees in the House are health and environment,
Palestine, agriculture and water, labour, engery, public freedoms,
administrative, national guidance, tourism, badia and education.
Negotiations among the main House blocs on committee membership reached a
deadlock during the weekend, but deputies from these blocs met again yesterday
and reached a compromise.
Lower House sources said the weekend negotiations failed because the meetings
did not include the 17 members of the influential IAF bloc.
The IAF was present in yesterday's meetings.
Committee membership is usually decided by consensus, apart from a few occasions
where one or two committees were elected by secret ballot.
All the committees are expected to name their presidents and rapporteurs in the
next few days.
The government is scheduled to submit its policy statement at today's session
and the House is expected to start voting on the statement as early as next
week.