King to open Parliament’s ordinary session Sunday

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah will on Sunday inaugurate the 17th Parliament's second ordinary session with a speech from the Throne.

According to a Royal Court statement, the speech will tackle a variety of local, regional and international issues.

After the address, the Senate will convene to elect committees and a panel to draft a reply to the King's speech, in accordance with the Upper House’s bylaws.

Following the Senate meeting, the 150-member Lower House will meet in a separate session to elect its speaker for the upcoming session as well as members of the permanent office, including deputy speakers.

Before amending the Lower House's bylaws, the first meeting used to be chaired by the eldest deputy. Now the MP with the longest membership will preside over the first meeting.

Attallah Hunaiti, the speaker’s media adviser, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that four deputies have so far announced they would run the speakership race: Atef Tarawneh from the Watan bloc, who was in the post in the latest ordinary session and the following extraordinary sessions, Mefleh Ruheimi from the National Labour bloc, Amjad Majali from Al Nahda bloc, Hazem Qashou from the Reform bloc and Hadithah Khreishah of the Mubadara Initiative. 

Hunaiti also said that there is no deadline for the application and that any MP can enter the speakership race even during the first meeting.

On who will preside over the first meeting, Hunaiti said that Saad Hayel Srour, Abdul Karim Dughmi and Mohammad Hajj are the three MPs with the oldest membership in the House. 

Hunaiti expected Dughmi to chair the session as he has had a continuous presence in Parliament since 1989.