Ammon News - By Wael Jaraysheh

AMMONNEWS - MPs demonstrated in Wednesday's parliamentary session that they are bitterly divided over the findings of the Phosphate Privatisation Investigatory Commission. There was criticism of recent leaks from the report by some MPs who maintained that there is a principle of confidentiality in investigation and public transparency in trial.

They also criticised the committee's reliance on certain articles from the penal code and the rationale for casting allegations against certain individuals.

Conversely, other MPs defended the committee's report findings, considering that the sale represented an act of piracy by the phosphate company, and accusing the Chairman of the company's Board of Directors of distorting the privatisation process in Jordan and spreading corruption.

MP Hamad Abu Zayd called on MPs to put aside their differences whilst discussing the committee's report, and on Wednesday morning invited the lower house of parliament to a lunch on Thursday and to delay discussion of the subject until tensions had calmed. Abu Zayd's call met with approval amongst MPs but discussion of the report was then resumed by speaker Abd el Karim al-Daghmi.

Abu Zayd's appeal followed tension in parliament when MP Ahmed al-Shuqran expressed fears that the presidency might have been part of the conspiracy to distort the report, sparking an angry response from parliamentary speaker al-Daghmi. Ahmad Al-Shuqran later apologised.

The rapporteur for the Phosphate Privatisation Investigatory Committee Husni al-Shayab later read the Committee's report recommendations but was stopped from reading out the entire report.


The session was headed by Speaker al-Daghmi who returned a day early from an official business trip to Kuwait on Tuesday evening