The Lower House of Parliament on Monday passed amendments to the Constitution giving His Majesty the King the exclusive power to appoint or accept the resignation of and dismiss the Chief Justice, head of the Sharia Judicial Council, Grand Mufti, Royal Court Chief, Minister of the Court and the King’s advisors.
In a public vote, the deputies, by a majority of 115 votes, agreed to add these powers to the second paragraph of Article 40 of the constitution, which defines cases in which the king exercises exclusive powers.
After the amendment, paragraph 2 of Article 40 of the Constitution reads as follows: “The King shall exercise the powers vested in him by Royal Decree without such Decree be countersigned by the Prime Minister and the Minister or Ministers concerned in the following cases: the selection of the Crown Prince, appointment of the Regent, appointment of the president and members of the Senate, dissolution of the Senate and acceptance of the resignation or dismissal of any of its members, appointment of the head of the Judicial Council and acceptance of his/her resignation, appointment of the president and members of the Constitutional Court and acceptance of their resignations, in addition to the appointment, acceptance of the resignations, and dismissal of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of the Intelligence Department, Director of the Public Security Department, Chief Justice, head of the Sharia Judicial Council, Grand Mufti, Chief the Royal Court, Minister of the Court, and the King’s advisors.
The lawmakers struck out an article added by the government related to the King’s appointment of the two members of the National Security and Foreign Policy Council.
Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said after the vote that the amendments related to the King’s powers are “completely in line with the Constitution”, explaining that the amendments aim to “distance these posts from partisan bickering to preserve their impartiality”.
The Prime Minister indicated that the amendment comes with the aim of reaching a partisan government, and thus separating the parliamentary function (legislation and oversight) from the executive function.
He pointed out that the Minister of the Royal Court is a job title within the organizational structure of the Royal Court, and he/she is not a member of the Council of Ministers.
The lawmakers also passed, by a majority of 117, an amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution, which now reads as follows: “No Minister, while holding his/her Ministerial office, may purchase or lease any State property even if the sale or lease thereof has been offered in public auction. He/she shall not, while holding his/her Ministerial office, become a member of the board of directors of any company or take part in any commercial or financial transaction or receive a salary from any company.”
The amendment of this article was limited to adding the phrase “while holding his/her Ministerial office” after the minister’s word at the beginning of the article, and replacing the phrase “Government property” with “State property.”
SOURCE: JORDAN NEWS AGENCY