MPs fail to discuss no-confidence motion against interior minister

AMMAN — The Lower House failed to discuss a motion of no confidence against Interior Minister Salameh Hammad on Tuesday brought on by a group of MPs, and the session was adjourned.

Although there was no lack of quorum, Lower House First Deputy Speaker Khamis Atiyeh adjourned the session, saying that the 2016 amendments to the Tourism Law require a long separate session to be “thoroughly and adequately discussed”.  

A group of 48 MPs signed a memorandum and submitted it to the House presidency last week, requesting that the House move with a motion of no confidence against Hammad.

The signatories of the memo, initiated by Karak MP Musleh Tarawneh, cited Hammad’s “ill-handling” of the security incidents that erupted last week in Karak. 

In the security operations against “terrorist outlaws” in Karak, over 140km south of Amman, last week, seven security personnel and three civilians died on Sunday and four security personnel were killed on Tuesday.

Four terrorists were killed in Sunday’s operation, while one gunman was killed last Tuesday and another was arrested.

According to Paragraph A of Article 53 of the Constitution, “a vote of no confidence in the Council of Ministers or in any Minister may be cast by the House of Deputies”. 

Paragraph C of the same article reads: “If the vote of no confidence concerns an individual minister, that minister alone must resign his office.”

Also on Tuesday, a total of 95 lawmakers signed a memorandum, requesting that a hazardous work allowance be granted to police personnel, citing their “pivotal” role in protecting the country’s stability and security.