House speaker urges public to judge MPs through ballot box

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Saturday called for differentiating between the performance of the Chamber as a national institution and the individual performance of MPs, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Speaking in an interview with Petra, Tarawneh urged the public to hold deputies accountable through the ballot box, stressing the importance of respecting the House’s role and its constitutional status in the Jordanian political system.

The speaker criticised some deputies for threatening a “motion of no confidence” against the government through the media and social media websites before submitting a memo to him and listing it in the official records of the House, noting that such actions have negative consequences.

He urged the media to perform its supervisory role on the government in the same degree it is practised on the House, noting that the media did not do the Chamber jus-tice, ignoring its achievements and efforts in persuading the government to refrain from increasing the price of gas cylinders and to lower vehicle licensing fees.

Tarawneh also criticised the exaggeration of MPs travel expenses, noting that the House’s budget is JD11.5 million, including the salaries of the deputies and workers, and travel costs. He described it as a “modest” budget that is less than those of many other government institutions.

Tarawneh reviewed diplomatic parliamentary achievements, as Jordan heads three committees in the Inter-Parliamentary Union that includes 166 nations and heads the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, in addition to other parliamentary entities. He said the 17th House approved 139 draft and temporary laws in 62 sessions with a ratio of three sessions per week