‘Dissolution of Senate expected in coming days’

AMMAN – Two Royal Decrees are expected to be issued in the coming days, to dissolve the current Senate and to appoint a new one, parliamentary sources said on Monday.

Citing Article 63 of the Constitution, parliamentary sources said that, in terms of the number of members, the current Senate is "unconstitutional". 

According to the said article, the Senate, including the speaker, should consist of no more than half the number of deputies in the Lower House.

The new Elections Law, under which the September 20 parliamentary polls were conducted, reduced the number of Lower House members from 150 to 130. 

"Consequently, the current 75-strong Senate is unconstitutional and should be reduced to a maximum of 65 members," a parliamentary source told The Jordan Times.

Constitutionally, the Parliament’s ordinary session should be held on October 1 or within two months of that date, but the sources expected the new Senate to be appointed in the next few days. 

According to Article 78 of the Constitution: “The King shall summon the National Assembly to an ordinary session on the first day of October of each year or, if that day is an official holiday, on the first day following the official holiday, provided that the King may, by Royal Decree published in the Official Gazette, postpone for a period not exceeding two months the meeting of the assembly to a date to be fixed by the Royal Decree.”

“Although nothing in the Constitution stipulates that full members of the two Houses of Parliament should be present at the ordinary session, it has been the norm for a long time,” according to a source.

Al Rai Arabic daily recently quoted unnamed sources as expecting two Royal Decrees to be issued within the coming few days; one proroguing the Parliament’s ordinary session and another summoning the legislature to convene in an ordinary session in mid November.