AMMAN - His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday issued a Royal Decree summoning the 15th Parliament for its opening session on Sunday.
According to Article 79 of the Constitution, "the King shall inaugurate the ordinary session of the National Assembly by a Speech from the Throne addressed to a joint meeting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. He may deputise the prime minister or any of the ministers to perform the inauguration ceremony and deliver the Speech from the Throne".
The session will be attended by the new government of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, which was sworn in Sunday by His Majesty.
Customarily, the Royal Speech highlights the King's vision for the coming stage on the basis of his Letter of Designation to the new prime minister.
In the letter, the King said the coming stage should focus on socio-economic development.
"Our vision for the coming era, which is full of challenges is crucial in the history of Jordan. We seek to have socio-economic development as a top priority. We are determined to proceed with political reform, partisan life advancement, guided by the principles agreed upon in the National Agenda and We are All Jordan documents," the King told Dahabi Thursday upon tasking him to form the new Cabinet.
Following the address from the Throne, the Senate will convene to elect various committees and a panel to draft a reply to the King's speech, in accordance with the Upper House's bylaws.
Afterwards, the 110-member Lower House will meet in a separate session to elect its speaker for the 2007-2008 sessions.
A selected group of MPs will also draft the House's reply to the Speech from the Throne.
According to the House's bylaws, the first meeting is chaired by the eldest deputy, who happens to be former speaker Abdul Hadi Majali.
The veteran deputy is expected to nominate himself for the title against a number of heavyweight candidates including Mamdouh Abbadi (Amman, 3rd District) and Tawfiq Kreishan (Maan, 1st District). House sources also said Deputy Falak Jamaani (Madaba, 2nd District), the only woman who won her seat through open competition, is contemplating the idea of running for the speaker post, House sources told The Jordan Times.
In the meantime, several veteran deputies are engaged in a flurry of activities outside Parliament in an attempt to form blocs. Some of the deputies who plan to form blocs are Majali (Karak, 2nd District) Abbadi, Saad Srour (North Badia) and Khalil Attiyeh (Amman, 1st District).
Meanwhile, it remains unclear how the Islamic Action Front (IAF) would go about its policy in the new Parliament, after only six of its candidates made it to the House, compared to 17 in the previous Parliament.
"We have not decided anything yet. We are still talking," said Azzam Hneidi (Amman, 1st District), former leader of the IAF bloc in the 14th Parliament and one of the six Islamist winners.
Hneidi told The Jordan Times a number of independent deputies offered to join ranks with the Islamist deputies to form an alliance, but no decision has been taken yet on the part of the IAF leadership.
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
© Jordan Times 2007
