Ammon News - by Khaled Neimat/ The Jordan Times

AMMAN — Members of the Lower House on Sunday signed a memo calling for more civil rights for the children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians.

Under the proposal, which was submitted during Saturday’s session, the signatories advocated “equal rights in fields such as education, healthcare, work and travel”, without making any reference to citizenship, which is the main demand of women’s rights advocates.

As it currently stands, Jordanian men married to non-Jordanian women can pass on their citizenship to their wives and children, a right that is denied to women with foreign husbands.

Officials have over the years linked full rights and a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying that a change in the relevant laws towards that end would give Palestinian residents, especially those who come from the Gaza Strip, a right to be naturalised.

In the preamble of the document filed with the House’s Permanent Office, deputies said that they want to change the legislation so that it “meets international human rights standards”.

They added that when this segment of residents is guaranteed additional rights, “they would add value to the Kingdom’s society”.

“There are approximately 60,000 Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians. Half of them are in Jordan, so if we count that their children and husbands are affected, it is nearly 250,000,” Laila Naffa, director of programmes at the Arab Women’s Organisation, told The Jordan Times in a previous interview.

Election of Amman mayor

Additionally, in a move meant to stimulate the country’s reform process, 13 deputies signed another memo calling for amendments to the Municipalities Law so that the Amman mayor will be elected.

This amendment would result in the cancellation of Article 3 of the Municipalities Law, which gives the Cabinet the right to appoint the capital’s mayor.

A previous Parliament attempted to enact a similar change, led by Deputy Khamis Atiyeh, a veteran member of the Greater Amman Municipality, failed to rally sufficient support with only 20 deputies backing the move.

University violence

Following a bid by the Lower House to enact measures to prevent a reoccurrence of violent outbursts in the Kingdom’s universities, Minister of Interior Hussein Majali replied to claims that the government has failed to detain culprits in the gunfight that left four dead at Al Hussein Bin Talal University in Maan, 220km south the capital.

Majali said that security agencies have detained 29 suspects and referred them to court after they “confessed” to using guns in clashes that halted classes at the university till further notice.

Responding to calls for the resumption of study at the university, the minister said: “The government cannot jeopardise the lives of the university students and workers at this stage.”

The suspension of study at Al Hussein University is not good news for anyone, Minister of Higher Education Amin Mahmoud told the lawmakers.

Tribal leaders insist that the government arrest the “actual killers” of their sons and release detainees from the Hweitat tribe, which has given the government a 30-day ultimatum, threatening to return to riots and blocking of the vital desert highway linking Aqaba with Amman and the rest of the Kingdom.

Mahmoud urged community leaders in Maan to allow students to resume their studies.