House loses quorum in last meeting of ordinary session

AMMAN — The Lower House lost quorum on Sunday in the Chamber’s last meeting of the ordinary session, with MPs failing to discuss the Privatisation Evaluation Committee’s report.

Deputy Speaker Ahmad Safadi adjourned the meeting when the total number of MPs present under the Dome fell to 45 out of the 150-member House.

Last week, His Majesty King Abdullah issued a Royal Decree proroguing the ordinary session of Parliament as of Saturday, May 3. 

Before the meeting lost quorum, Finance Minister Umayya Toukan told deputies that the government has already studied the outcomes of the report and will adopt its recommendations in certain areas.

At the strategic level, the government will proceed with two of the report’s recommendations on transparency when dealing with privatisation and selecting build-operate-transfer bases in public projects instead of transferring ownership of public utilities and services, Toukan said.

The government will ensure that all privatisation procedures are in line with regulations and the country’s Constitution, he added.

In addition, the government will set criteria for selecting its representatives on the boards of companies in which it owns shares and holding them accountable, the minister said.

The report “is rich with guidelines for us to follow in all future large-scale projects”, Toukan added.

The committee, which included members from the International Finance Corporation, the Islamic Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in addition to other Jordanian experts, started its work in March last year after His Majesty King Abdullah directed the Cabinet in the Letter of Designation late 2012 to review all privatisation deals –– which have triggered public debate in the Kingdom. 

The panel has reviewed the privatisation deals of 15 companies that used to be state-owned and investigated the licensing and contracts of four other firms.

The deals were mainly in the fields of mining, telecommunications, water, transport and aviation. 

Revenues generated from privatisation reached JD1.7 billion, of which around JD1.5 billion went to paying the Kingdom’s debts, according to Omar Razzaz, head of the committee.