Monitor reports rise in number of House panel meetings

AMMAN — The Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils (Rasid) on Saturday highlighted a rise in the number of meetings held by the 18th Lower House’s committees in the 10th week of the current ordinary session. 

The Chamber’s committees held 12 meetings — eight for legislative reasons and four for monitoring purposes, Rasid said in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Seven committees held eight legislative meetings, during which members endorsed entire draft laws or items in bills. 

Lower House committees also held four meetings for oversight purposes with ministers and civil society institutions to check on the level of services provided to the public and ways to develop them, Petra reported. 

The 130-strong House held two sessions in the same week.

The first session saw the government reply to 15 questions raised by MPs, while the second was held to listen to the finance panel’s report and recommendations on the 2017 draft laws for the state budget and the budgets of independent government units.

The House also activated its executive office’s decision to list “any arising issues” on the agenda of each session for oversight purposes, which was done during the 10th week’s two sessions.

Under the item, each bloc names a member to talk about any issue he or she wishes to tackle, expressing the deputy’s own view which does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire bloc.