Jordanian MPs accuse security of interfering in legislative authority Amman – Osama Arrantissi The Jordanian House of Representatives session turned into an open-end sit-in on Wednesday after a number of MPs protested at the votes’ outcome on cancelling the parliamentary investigation committees, based on a memo signed by 75 parliament members.
Fifty-six out of 107 members of the parliament voted in favour of the memo stipulating the cancellation of the investigation committees. MPs soon gathered in protest at the entrance of the parliament session hall and told Speaker Abdelkarim Al-Doghmi that they were against the outcome of the vote, repeating chants denouncing “fraud” and corruption.
MPs Wasfi al-Rawashda, Abdel Rahman al-Hanakta, and Awad al-Zowaida were among those who rejected the vote's result and were against the cancelation of the committees, saying that such a decision was due to pressures exerted by certain authorities on the House of Representatives, in order to “protect corruption”.
Meanwhile, some MPs threatened to publish documents which proved the involvement of senior officials in corruption cases “revealing facts to the people through the media following the elimination of the investigation committees.” They stated that they were preparing a memorandum requesting the return of the parliamentary investigation committees.
Protesting MPs stated: “The voting fraud took place while counting the votes,” accusing security authorities of intervening in the legislative authority.
Sources inside the parliament indicated that all investigation committees will most likely be referred to the Anti-Corruption Authority and withdrawn from the parliament, which would “blind the parliament to most corruption cases and provoke more protests among MPs, who may resort to escalation.”
The same sources revealed that pressures were exercised on some MPs to skip the Wednesday parliament session, so that the voting process will not be “successful”.