Deputies argue over travel arrangements, neglect key regulations

Source: Jordan Times, AmmanAug.自存倉 06--AMMAN -- MPs on Monday failed to speed up their deliberations over the Lower House's amended Rules of Procedure again, with the speaker cancelling a planned session on Tuesday.House Speaker Saad Hayel Srour had announced "marathon sessions" this week to finish discussions over the 164-article regulations, but by the end of Monday's session, MPs had endorsed no more than six articles."This is the last meeting for the Lower House under the current Parliament session," Srour said at Monday's Lower House meeting.Several deputies said the decision came after an "altercation" between two MPs over the House's travel arrangements for parliamentary delegations.Deputy Assaf Shawabkah (Amman, 4th District) and Second Deputy Lower House Speaker Tareq Khouri (Zarqa, 1st District) argued over "inequality" in naming the members of House delegations formed to participate in international events.Shawabkah charged that Khouri had travelled more than once with parliamentary missions, encroaching on other MPs' chances to travel.Khouri dismissed the accus迷你倉新蒲崗tions as lies.The two deputies also exchanged insults under the Dome.Several other deputies supported Shawabkah's view, accusing the House's Permanent Office of the "unfair" distribution of parliamentary trips among the deputies.However, Srour said there is a clear and transparent procedure, ensuring that each deputy is given the chance to travel with a House delegation.He noted that any occasion where a deputy travelled multiple times is either because he/she went on a private trip or was personally invited to attend an event.Prior to starting their debate over travel issues, the MPs decided to increase the number of the Lower House speaker's deputies to four from two.Deputy Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq, 1st District) said the decision was taken because the number of Lower House members has almost doubled over the past years.There are currently 150 seats in the Lower House, an increase from 80 two decades ago.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) Visit the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) at .jordantimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租