AMMAN — On Monday, lawmakers held a legislative session to
discuss the 2020 anti-money laundering and financing terrorism bill. The bill
inspired sharp disagreements among members of the
Lower House.
اضافة اعلان
The proposed legislation strengthens the penalties for money
laundering and financing terrorism crimes, with the addition of detailed
criminal penalties in the event that the notified bodies do not comply with the
provisions of the law, as well as a specific penalty for violating the
legislation related to the implementation of
UN Security Council decisions. It
entails harsher penalties for legal entities and includes the confiscation of
proceeds for the crimes they commit.
Several MPs objected to the bill, arguing that it violates
the sovereignty of the Jordanian state. Representative Saleh Al-Armouti for
example, asked to return the bill on the basis that it was translated verbatim
from another country’s law, challenging anyone who could prove that the law is
not a literal translation. Armouti added that “a former prime minister asked
the Legislation and Opinion Bureau not to tamper with or change any word in
bill.”
Armouti told Jordan News that the law has existed since 2007, but the amendments that it has obtained
are very harmful to Jordanian sovereignty. He said that these amendments
represent a great threat to the Palestinian cause because it requires Jordan to
adhere closely to the decisions of the UN Security Council.
“If the Security Council says that a party affiliated with
the Palestinian resistance is a terrorist, then Jordan must comply and agree
with this decision,” he said. Armouti added that he called, during the session,
to dissolve the (UN) Security Council and reconfigure it to include Arab and
non-Arab countries in order to prevent superpowers from ruling over states’
decisions and sovereignty.
The permanent members of the Security Council (China,
France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the
United States), are joined by 10
non-permanent states; currently, Tunisia is the only Arab country on the
Council.
MP Nidal Al-Hiari alleged that the bill may serve the
so-called “Deal of the Century” — former American president Donald Trump’s
proposed peace plan for Israel and Palestine.
MP Raed Smaeirat suggested that the bill be returned to the
legal committee of the Parliament. Abdul Kareem Al-Dughmi agreed with his
suggestion, and added “I commend the proposal to reject the unfair law, which
will hinder the investment process in the Kingdom.”
Likewise, Hiari told Jordan News that the articles of
the original law were better since the new bill contains many restrictions on
investment. According to Hiari, if the bill is applied, Jordan will become an
insecure environment for investment.
He also added that the articles of the bill represent a
threat to citizens, as any person may find himself accused of a money
laundering or terrorism, according to the unclear articles of the bill.
Hiari said he hopes to form a parliamentary memorandum that
will reformulate the law and re-examine it, because it contains dictates from
economically prosperous foreign countries; he suggested that it is not
permissible for Jordan to apply these dictates literally since the economic
situations are not similar.
Dughmi said that the former parliament had discussed the
bill submitted by the previous government, describing it as a government of
“disappointment”. He also stressed that the Lower House has the right to reject
the law, challenging the existence of a text in the internal system of the
Lower House that prevents this.
Armouti claimed that the bill violates Article 128 of the
Constitution, which states: “All laws, regulations, and other legislative acts
in force in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the date on which this
Constitution comes into force shall continue to be in force until they are
repealed or amended by the legislation issued thereunder.”
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