Lower House refers RJ case to anti-corruption body

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday referred a parliamentary committee’s report on Royal Jordanian (RJ) to the Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) for investigation into the national carrier's accumulated losses. 

In its final report on RJ, the Lower House’s Public Services and Transport Committee recommended that the JIACC investigate the airline’s aircraft purchase, sale and operating lease agreements in addition to a number of financial and administrative issues. 

All the committee’s recommendations were adopted by the House, including the appointment of a new board of directors to run RJ, “in light of the current board’s inability to solve the company’s present and past imbalances”.

MPs also requested that RJ be subject to the Audit Bureau’s monitoring, with a call on the government to grant “reasonable” exemptions to the national carrier, citing its operation of 45 per cent of services at Queen Alia International Airport.

The committee also recommended terminating the services of RJ President and CEO Stefan Pichler and the appointment of an “experienced Jordanian capable of enhancing the company’s competitiveness”.

Attending the session, Deputy Prime Minister Rajai Muasher called on the House to refer the committee’s report to the government for examination, pledging to refer it to the court should the allegations of corruption prove to have grounds. 

The House has recently referred a case involving the government’s attempt to buy former Lebanese prime minister Najib Miqati’s shares in RJ to the JIACC.

The House’s decision was made after MP Abdul Karim Dughmi questioned the reason behind the government’s acquisition of Miqati’s RJ shares at a higher price than the rate listed in the financial market.

The MP requested referring the issue to the JIACC, to review the deal’s procedures and its impact on the Treasury.

In February, the government posted a clarification on the “Haggak Tiraf” (“your right to know” in English) online platform, saying that a five-week investigation by the JIACC found that the procedures applied in the restructuring of the carrier by the government of former prime minister Abdullah Ensour were all “sound”.

The government said that news circulated on social media, claiming that the JIACC found that Ensour had transferred JD200 million of public assets to support the shares of his friend, Miqati, were “just rumours”.

The government said that Prime Minister Omar Razzaz received the JIAAC’s report on January 27, and referred it to the Lower House.