'House rules should prevent using lack of quorum to disrupt sessions'

May 16, 2013

AMMAN -- For deputies to prove their seriousness in their role as legislators, rules must be put in place to ensure that the lack of quorum is not used to disrupt key sessions, an observer said on Thursday.

Disrupting sessions when the number of attending deputies becomes below 76, half plus one of the 150-strong House, is not only due to MPs' "negligence", Ad Dustour daily columnist Maher Abu Tair argues.

The loss of quorum, he said, is sometimes used as a political manoeuvre to achieve certain agendas.

Abu Tair described the practice as a "negative expression" of opinion, while the positive way should be "lobbying".

The level of attendance during House sessions witnessed significant decline over the past few weeks, particularly after the Lower House concluded the vote of confidence sessions.

The average number of attending deputies in Lower House sessions is currently less than 80 deputies, while several meetings were adjourned for lack of quorum, according to parliamentary sources.

Abu Tair said this issue is not unique to the 17th Parliament, noting that previous Lower Houses, including the 16th and 15th, faced similar problems.

Kholoud Khatatbah, spokesperson of the Watan (Homeland) bloc, which includes around 17 MPs, said the long sessions and the increase of weekly meetings from two to three make MPs go out for short breaks during sessions, unintentionally causing lack of quorum.

Increasing the number of weekly sessions is aimed at speeding up the legislative process.

Local research centres have advised the Lower House's Permanent Office to link the attendance level with financial compensations for MPs to encourage more deputies to attend the meetings.

Abu Tair called for including such measures in the House's Rules of Procedure, which are currently being amended by the Legal Committee.

According to Khatatbah, quorum will not be an issue as soon as the rules are amended, with the deputies having no choice but to attend the sessions to meet the obligations of their bloc.

The Rules of Procedure are being amended to institutionalise the work of blocs in the Parliament, in a bid to pave the way for forming parliamentary governments.

The new regulations are expected to be ready by the end of the month, according to Deputy Mustafa Yaghi, who heads the committee.

"This is a cornerstone in the country's reform agenda," Khatatbah said.