House, Senate to meet for joint session to settle decentralisation bill differences

AMMAN — The Lower House on Sunday rejected the Senate’s amendments to the 2015 decentralisation bill, insisting on a law free of women’s quota in local governing bodies.

Last week, the Upper House rejected MPs’ amendments to the law which included no quota for women in governorate councils, insisting that 10 per cent of the elected governorate council seats be allocated for women.

Deputies themselves had initially approved a 15 per cent women’s quota, supporting a proposal by MP Wafaa Bani Mustafa in that regard, but they went back on their decision ahead of the final vote.

If the Senate insists on its amendments for the second time, then constitutionally the two Houses of Parliament have to meet in a joint session to resolve the matter in dispute. 

According to Article 92 of the Constitution: “Should either House twice reject any draft law and the other accept it, whether or not amended, both the Senate and the Chamber shall hold a joint meeting under the chairmanship of the president of the Senate to discuss the matters in dispute.”

The Senate and House will meet in a joint session as each side has offered no compromise on their amendments to the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) Law.

During a session last week, the Senate refused for the second time to endorse the Lower House’s changes to the IEC Law. The House had decided to include appointment of the agency’s employees in the oversight agency under the jurisdiction of the civil service by-law, insisting instead that recruitment at the IEC should be governed by a special by-law.