"The house categorically rejects political blackmail and calls by some people for limiting the king’s constitutional powers,” the chamber said in a statement.

"Such calls does not reflect the convictions of the Jordanian community and seeks to fragment the Jordanian state,” it added.

Prominent opposition figures recently suggested that the country be turned into a "constitutional monarchy" through the annulment of all amendments introduced into the 1952 constitution, which provided for a "parliamentary and hereditary monarchy."

The critics in particular cited the king’s power in appointing prime ministers and cabinet ministers, and said the formation of governments should be decided by political parties gaining majorities through the ballot boxes.

The house said that political reforms should be decided through "constructive dialogue and not through the street," in a reference to a series of demonstrations that swept Jordan over the past three months and found inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The lower house seemed to side with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit who earlier this week lashed out at the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), for boycotting meetings of the National Dialogue Committee he had set up for considering reforms proposed by the king.

Islamists insisted that the panel’s agenda should include issues such as the amendment of the constitution and that the committee’s reference should be the king and not the government.