AMMAN, 16 March 2007 — Jordan’s lower house has adopted a bill to regulate political parties that raises the number of founding members from 50 to 500, triggering the ire of MPs yesterday who say it will discourage people from taking part in politics. The lower house passed the bill on Wednesday and sent it to the royally appointed senate for its approval.
In addition to the higher number of founding members, the bill stipulates that parties will obtain government funds and will be kept under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry as set out by the 1992 law.
Deputies from the key opposition Islamic Action Front and several other MPs charge that the bill would curtail political development in Jordan despite the government’s pledge to push for reform.
“Increasing the number of founding members is not an encouraging step and shows there is no intention on the part of the government to push for political development in the country,” IAF MP Azzam Al-Heneidi told AFP. “This increase threatens the existence of political parties.”
Fellow IAF MP Zuheir Abu Ragheb said that “what happened ... is in total contradiction with the instructions of King Abdallah to push for political reforms.” At the opening of Parliament in November, the king urged lawmakers to fast-track several laws, including one to regulate the country’s 30 political parties, as part of a reform drive.
Independent MP Jamal Dmur described the bill as “the most important ever legislation ratified by Parliament” and said it reflects the king’s wish for a “modern political parties’ law.”
He insisted that by increasing the number of founding members, political parties will be “more representative and therefore more efficient.”
Meanwhile, Jordan’s State Security Court yesterday sentenced four Al-Qaeda-affiliated Iraqis to death after finding them guilty of carrying out acts of terrorism including the killing of a Jordanian truck driver, judicial sources said. The only detained defendant, Ziyad Karbouli, kissed the ground and chanted Allah-o-Akbar (God is Greatest) after hearing the ruling.
The tribunal also sentenced in absentia two defendants for life imprisonment and eight other suspects to 15 years in jail, judicial sources said. The other three suspects sentenced to death in absentia were Nabhan Assaf, Yousuf Zamlawi and Muayyad Olaiwi.
All 14 Iraqis, who allegedly belonged to Al-Qaeda organization, were charged with “conducting acts of terrorism that led to the death of a human being.”
They were also accused of “illegal possession of arms, plotting to carry out acts of terrorism and belonging to an illegal group.”
Karbouli confessed on the state-run Jordan television in May 2006 to have killed the Jordanian driver Khalid Dosouki as he drove his truck in the Ramadi area in Western Iraq and to have taken part in the abduction of two Moroccan diplomats as they drove to Baghdad from Amman.
He retracted confessions last week and told the SSC that Dosouki was killed by a Saudi national, prompting his lawyer Adel Tarawneh to call for his acquittal. Tarawneh charged that the confessions were extracted from Karbouli “under threat.”
During the court hearings, Karbouli alleged that he was arrested by Jordanian intelligence agents in Beirut and transferred to Jordan.
But the Jordanian intelligence gave the impression that he was arrested inside Iraq, where Jordanians security organs have been cooperating with US-led invasion forces and Iraqi troops to quell acts of terrorism.
Meanwhile, a rare winter storm yesterday dumped up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow in parts of Jordan, closing roads, schools and businesses.
The director of the state meteorology department, Abdul-Halim Abu Hazeem, said more snow was expected during the day in several areas of the kingdom.
Temperatures dropped below 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) during yesterday’s snowfall. Parents and children played with the snow around their houses while plows worked to clear Amman’s hilly streets.
An airport official said air traffic was unaffected by the storm, which contained winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. Police spokesman Maj. Bashir Al-Da’ajah said that approximately 100 traffic accidents were recorded yesterday, including a Saudi bus that overturned near the northeastern city of Zarqa, injuring 12 passengers.
The Middle East is accustomed to mild winters, although big storms have occasionally battered the region. Last year, up to 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) of snow fell in western and northern parts of Jordan.
In 2004, Jordan received up to 90 centimeters (three feet) of snow in what was described as the kingdom’s worst snowstorm since 1950.
