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Parliamentary in-house skirmishes

Feb 10,2019 - Last updated at Feb 10,2019

Deputies attacking one another under the dome of Parliament used to be a rarity in the good old days, but nowadays, it has become quite common.

The latest episode of such infighting between MPs in the Lower House of Parliament occurred between deputies Saddah Habashneh and Zaid Shawabkeh during the Wednesday session.

The very idea of MPs physically attacking one another while they are in session is so unbecoming that something must be done before it becomes an epidemic and out of control. True, while indoor parliamentary skirmishes between MPs do not lead to permanent hostility between the "combatants", it still must be stopped. Luckily, emotions cool off literally in few minutes between deputies who strike one another, often for no reason.

Fortunately, this new phenomenon does not exist in the Senate, where Senators appear more restrained and cool-headed when they differ with one another on any policy issue. At this rate, the record of the Lower House of Parliament in comparison with that of the Upper House of Parliament does not appear encouraging. There was a time when the country had only a Senate, whose members were appointed by the King. Things were peaceful and constructive in those days, not to mention a lot more economical and cost effective for the Kingdom as a whole.

Whatever the pros and cons are of having a two-chamber Parliament, the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament and his bureau should embark on a new policy to control deputies who take the law into their hands and have recently become unruly and uncontrollable.

The public has become weary of its elected representatives' performance and are beginning to wonder about their cost effectiveness. Perhaps the solution to this new epidemic in Parliament would lie in the creation of real political parties, which can control the behaviour of their respective member deputies. In any case, whatever it takes to bring order to parliamentary session must be done and soon.

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