Lower House to discuss no-confidence vote Tuesday

AMMAN — The Lower House is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss two motions of no-confidence in the government.

Several deputies are angry over “the government’s attitude towards their demands” especially those associated with the killing of Jordanian Judge Raed Zuaiter last Monday by two Israeli soldiers, which caused public outrage.

The Lower House called on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman and recall the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv, among other steps requested by MPs to protect “citizens’ dignity”.

Prior to their scheduled session, the MPs will hold a joint meeting on Tuesday with the Senate to resolve their dispute over draft amendments to the law on restructuring of the independent public institutions. 

In January, the Senate rejected the Lower House’s amendments to the bill, turning down MPs’ attempts to cancel or merge certain public institutions.

During their Sunday session, deputies voted in support of a petition submitted by several lawmakers to reopen the Lower House’s Rules of Procedure for further discussions and amendments. 

MPs referred the memo to the Legal Committee for further discussions and deliberations before opening the file under the Dome.

Deputies amended the Rules of Procedure in mid-2013, but later discovered some loopholes in the amended version, prompting suggestions for a review to avoid what parliamentary sources described as “shortcomings” in the regulations.

Also during the session, MPs continued their deliberations over the agriculture law. It has taken the Chamber of Deputies five sessions to discuss the temporary law, and they will need one more meeting to endorse it, according to parliamentary sources.