Amman - Osama Al Rantissi
Jordan's King Abdullah II
Jordan's King Abdullah II ordered the Jordanian PM Dr. Fayez Tarawneh to freeze the government's recent decision to raise fuel prices on gasoline 90 and diesel as of Sunday evening. Tarawneh’s government became
constitutionally uncovered after 89 parliamentary members signed a demand calling for an amendment to the current parliamentary session agenda. Angry deputies marched out of the parliament in a protest chanting "The people want to overthrow the government" and "House of Representatives want to overthrow the government." They demanded the government retreat its decision and threatened to boycott the meetings until they were given a response.
According to a parliamentary memo the members asked to withdraw trust from the recent government for several reasons including "Issuing a decree by rising fuel prices, employing their relatives in the government, neglecting the way Jordanians are earning their living and the constitutional carelessness of the government by not consulting the parliamentary deputies in its decisions”.
A member told Arabstoday "The head of financial committee in the parliament Ayman Majali expressed his extreme anger and rejected the government’s decision without consulting the committee".
The head of the Jordanian House of Representatives, Abdel Kareem Al Doghmi said "We all are keeping our constitution and it does not allow us to discuss the issue of rising fuel prices inside the parliament outside the schedule of the meeting agenda".
MP Atef Tarawneh proposed the government withdraw its hasty decision by rising petroleum products prices as it was taken without consulting the energy committee in the parliament. MP Khaled el- Fentasa also asked the government to freeze its decision to raise fuel prices in order to keep the nation and leadership intact adding “The Jordanian street is already flamed enough. We will boycott the parliament until the decision is frozen”.