Parliament convenes in joint session, ends dispute over major laws

AMMAN — The two houses of Parliament on Thursday convened in a joint session, ending a dispute over major laws, approving amendments to the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) draft law of 2022 and the amended Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) draft law of 2021.

Parliament voted in favour of the Senate's decision related to amendments to the IEC Law, regarding Article 1 of the bill as referred from the government, stipulating that the title is "the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) for 2022" without adding the phrase "and political parties", the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Both chambers also approved the Senate's decision over Article 5 of the amended ASEZA draft law of 2021, which stipulated the distribution of the income and sales tax revenues as follows: Scrapping the 75 per cent mentioned in paragraph A of the article and replacing it with 60 per cent, as well as abolishing the 25 per cent mentioned in paragraph B, to be replaced with 40 per cent. 

According to the Constitution, a bill needs to be passed by both chambers of Parliament before being signed into law by the King. If the two houses fail to agree, they will convene in a joint session for a majority vote.

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 Lower House shall hold a joint meeting under the chairmanship of the president of the Senate to discuss the matters in dispute."