House notifies election commission of vacant seat

AMMAN — The Lower House has officially requested that the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) hold by-elections to fill the seat left vacant after Deputy Mohammad Khasawneh (Irbid, 2nd District) who passed away, the commission said Sunday.

IEC President Riyadh Shakaa confirmed in a statement that the IEC received the notification on Thursday.

The IEC is now constitutionally required to hold by-elections in Irbid’s 2nd District to fill the vacant seat within two months of receiving the notification.

Khasawneh passed away on September 23.

According to Article 88 of the Constitution, the Lower House must inform the IEC of an MP’s death within one month from the date of its occurrence.

“The term of the new member shall be for the remaining part of the term of his predecessor,” the article says.

Three members of the current Lower House have died: Khasawneh, Mohammad Mahseiri (Amman, 2nd District) and Mahmoud Hweimel (Karak, 4th District).

A fourth seat was left vacant when deputy Talal Sharif (Amman, 1st District) was expelled from the House after attempting to shoot his colleague MP Qusai Dmeisi (Zarqa, 4th District) last year.

The statement quoted Shakaa as saying that the IEC board of commissioners will convene to decide on the timeline for by-elections, starting with voter and candidate applications and ending with the voting process.

Based on the timeline, the IEC will set a date to hold the by-elections within the constitutional period, he added.

Since the resumption of democratic life in Jordan in 1989, nine by-elections have been conducted to fill the vacant seats of MPs who either died or whose memberships were cancelled.