His Majesty King Abdullah II will inaugurate on Sunday the second ordinary session of the 20th Parliament, comprising both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
اضافة اعلان
His Majesty will deliver the Speech from the Throne before the Parliament, marking the official opening of the new session.
Following the Speech from the Throne, the Senate will hold a session to select the members of the committee tasked with drafting the reply to the Royal Address. Subsequently, the House of Representatives will convene under the chairmanship of the most senior deputy, to elect the members of its permanent office — the Speaker, the First and Second Deputy Speakers, and the two Assistant Speakers.
Paragraph (a) of Article 3 of the House’s Rules of Procedure stipulates that:
“After the deputies proceed to their chamber, the House of Representatives shall hold its first session, chaired by the member with the longest parliamentary service. If more than one member shares the same length of service, the one who has served in the highest number of terms shall preside; if they are still equal, the eldest among them shall preside. He shall be assisted by the two youngest attending members. If any of them is unable to perform his duty for any reason, he may be replaced by the next in age. Their duties end with the election of the Speaker.”
Paragraph (a) of Article 14 states:
“The candidate who obtains an absolute majority of those present shall be considered elected as Speaker if there are more than two candidates. If there are only two candidates, the one who secures a relative majority shall be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the result shall be decided by drawing lots.”
Recent amendments to the Rules of Procedure require that at least one member of the permanent office be a female MP. Paragraph (b) of Article 7 specifies:
“If no woman wins the position of Speaker or either of the two Deputy Speaker posts, only female MPs shall be eligible to run for the position of one of the Assistant Speakers, in accordance with guidelines set by the permanent office for this purpose.”
Following these elections, the House of Representatives will select a committee to draft the reply to the Speech from the Throne, to be approved by the House and submitted to His Majesty within 14 days of the speech’s delivery.
The House is also expected to elect the members of 20 parliamentary committees thereafter.
The current House of Representatives was elected under the 2022 Election Law, which for the first time in Jordan’s parliamentary history allowed full participation by political party lists, allocating 41 of the 138 seats to parties.
A Royal Decree was issued on September 28 postponing the opening of the Parliament’s ordinary session to October 26. Another Royal Decree subsequently invited Parliament to convene its ordinary session starting Sunday, October 26.
It is noted that His Majesty the King traditionally calls for the Parliament to convene its ordinary session on the first day of October each year. If that day falls on an official holiday, the session begins on the next working day.
His Majesty may, by Royal Decree published in the Official Gazette, postpone the Parliament’s meeting for a period not exceeding two months. The ordinary session begins on the date set in the Royal Decree and lasts for six months unless the King dissolves the House of Representatives before the end of that period.
The King may also extend the ordinary session for up to three additional months to complete pending matters. Upon the conclusion of the six-month period or any extension thereof, His Majesty issues a decree adjourning the session.
— (Petra)
