3 blocs look to join forces in ‘largest’ House coalition

Fuente: 
The Jordan Times
Fecha de publicación: 
07 Feb 2013

Three blocs in the 150-seat Lower House were in talks on Thursday to form the largest coalition under the Dome.

The Watan “Homeland” bloc led by veteran deputy Khalil Atiyeh finalised a deal with the Islamic Centrist Party (ICP) bloc led by the party’s secretary general, Mohammad Al Haj, to form a joint coalition of around 54 MPs.

The new coalition engaged in negotiations with the 16-member Future Bloc, which was formed on Wednesday, to bring it into the alliance and form the largest parliamentary grouping.

Meanwhile, MPs continued their meetings over the formation of blocs and alliances on Thursday, in preparation for the 17th Parliament’s extraordinary session, which starts on Sunday.

So far, six blocs, which include 131 of the total 149 deputies, have been formed.

One member of the 150-seat Lower House elected on January 23, Amman’s 2nd District Deputy Mohammad Mahseiri, died of a heart attack last week.

Once the session commences, deputies will elect a House speaker and the members of the permanent office.

Also on Thursday, in an unprecedented move, six of the candidates for the speakership participated in a two-hour debate, highlighting their plans to develop the work of the legislative authority.

The six candidates — Mohammad Qatatsheh, Saed Hayel Srour, Mustafa Shneikat, Mohammad Al Haj, Mahmoud Kharabsheh and Abdul Karim Dughmi — outlined their visions and plans to introduce changes to political life in the country.

Former speaker Dughmi stressed the need to amend the 2012 Elections Law and to review the Lower House’s by-laws.

Srour, another former speaker, argued that the speaker should not be a member of any bloc.

The speaker should remain independent

“The speaker should remain independent,” he said, indicating that otherwise he or she will not be able to treat the deputies on an equal footing.

Shneikat noted that the speaker should play an active role in developing political life in the Kingdom, pushing to amend several pieces of reform-oriented legislation, including the elections and political parties laws.

The ICP’s Haj said the Jordanian people wish to see change through parliament; hence, it is the time to change faces and select a new leader for the Lower House.

Such change, according to Haj, will send a positive message to the public about the Chamber of Deputies and the legislative authority, which has lost its reputation and image in the minds of Jordanians.

While Kharabsheh focused on the need to review several laws that concern the people, Qatatsheh criticised what he described as the “huge” number of staff in the Lower House, saying “it is better to leave the deputy free to select those who would help him rather than imposing certain employees on him during his term”.

 

Khaled Neimat

http://jordantimes.com/3-blocs-look-to-join-forces-in-largest-house-coal...