Senate President Faisal Fayez and Lower House Speaker Ahmed Safadi Tuesday convened heads and rapporteurs of permanent committees in the two chambers to coordinate closely to accelerate the passage of draft legislation.
The Speakers reviewed the current situation in the region and economic and security challenges facing Jordan, calling for “adopting a positive approach to deal with various challenges and networking with national institutions in a team spirit to address them.”
The Upper and Lower Houses commended His Majesty King Abdullah’s directive to the government to freeze the tax on kerosene during the winter “to alleviate the burdens on citizens, especially people with limited income.”
Fayez and Safadi said they back steps or positions taken by His Majesty, the custodian over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and efforts of the armed forces and security services to protect the Kingdom’s security and stability.
They highlighted fears and concerns voiced by the King in a recent interview with CNN and his warning of the current Israeli situation, the dangers of crossing red lines in Jerusalem and ongoing Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
“His talk, political depth and outlook for the future and challenges facing the region is of utmost importance, which requires all of us stand united behind our leadership in defense of the just Palestinian cause and the sanctities,” they said.
The parliament heads called on the international community and decision-making circles “to work to stop the provocative Israeli practices against the holy sites in Jerusalem and the occupation government’s constant attempts to change the legal and historical status quo in the holy city and its failure to implement relevant international legitimacy resolutions.”
Such practices, they warned, would fuel more conflict and violence in the region and perpetuate tension.
They condemned the storming on Tuesday morning of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, calling on the international community to help curb Israeli provocations that would stoke conflict in the region.
Source: Jordan News Agency