Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Lawmakers ended a crisis on Sunday as they halted a plan to request a vote of no confidence in a key Cabinet member, a move that triggered anger in the media and reformists circles.

Last week, some 50 MPs signed a memorandum requesting a vote of no confidence in Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Rakan Majali.

Deputies who signed the memorandum criticised Majali’s “inaccurate and contradictory statements” and his frequent absence from the meetings of the Lower House committees.

During yesterday’s session, Majali presented what he termed as a “clarification” to the House, explaining that his statements were “misunderstood and blown out of proportion”.

Earlier, some deputies who were leading the motion of no confidence explained that some of Majali’s “fiery statements” have caused panic and increased tension in the street.

Deputy Salah Al Din Sabra (Amman, 4th District) noted that Majali “made us feel that we are at war when he once said Jordan is on the verge of collapse”.

“We are going through a transformational stage and not a critical one as Majali said,” the deputy added.

Sabra also criticised a recent statement by Majali to a local newspaper when he said the government is planning to conduct the next parliamentary elections in November and will refer the elections draft law to the Lower House in February, indicating that some deputies also called for dissolving Parliament and conducting early elections.

In addition, Deputy Marzouq Habarneh (Zarqa, 4th District) explained that several deputies, especially members of the Administrative Committee, were angry at Majali “for failing to up at several scheduled meetings with the committee”.

However, this tension started to disappear after Majali’s conciliatory presentation, during which he reiterated his respect to the monitoring role of the House and its efforts in combating corruption and achieving reform.

As a result, deputies did not submit their memorandum to the House secretariat general.

Also yesterday, dozens of people rallied outside Parliament in solidarity with Majali.

Last Thursday, scores of media professionals rallied at the Jordan Press Association in support of the embattled minister.

The protest, which drew journalists from the Kingdom’s print, digital, radio and TV media, coincided with a similar one organised in Karak, Majali’s hometown, by local popular movements.

Both rallies were intended to express support for the minister and his pro-reform stance as well as his defence of media freedoms, according to participants.

On Friday, Majali joined protesters in his hometown who raised slogans criticising the “anti-reform deputies” and calling for the dissolution of Parliament.


* Jordan Times / By Raed Omari