Amman, April 22 (Petra) – The Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday concluded its second ordinary session of the 20th Parliament after holding 41 legislative and oversight sessions, during which it passed 19 laws and discussed the 73rd annual report of the Audit Bureau for 2024.

A Royal Decree was issued dissolving the session, effective next Sunday. His Majesty King Abdullah II had inaugurated the session on October 26, 2025.

During the session, the House combined legislative and oversight functions, including four oversight sessions that addressed dozens of parliamentary questions and government responses, most of which focused on domestic issues such as tourism, municipalities, agriculture, health, education at all levels, and support for university students.

At its first session on October 26, 2025, the House elected its Speaker, two deputies, and assistants. During the same session, it authorized the Standing Bureau to form a committee to draft a response to the Speech from the Throne, composed of five representatives from each parliamentary bloc and one independent member. The House approved the response in a closed session on November 3, following committee deliberations held between October 28 and 30.

In its third session on November 11, the House referred the draft general budget law for the 2025 fiscal year to the Finance Committee, during which Minister of Finance Abdelhakim Shibli delivered the state budget address, followed by a preliminary discussion by lawmakers. The Cabinet had approved the draft law on November 5 before referring it to the National Assembly.

During its fourth session on November 12, the House agreed on the selection of members for its 20 standing committees, a step that had also been taken during its first ordinary session, marking a precedent in parliamentary practice.

In its fifth session on November 17, the House approved, by majority vote, the amended draft National Military Service and Reserve Service Law of 2025 after a four-hour debate in which 97 MPs spoke. The move followed the announcement by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II in August 2025 on reactivating the National Service program. During the same session, the House referred the amended Official Gazette Law of 2025 to the National Guidance and Media Committee.

At its sixth session on November 24, the House referred 11 draft laws to relevant parliamentary committees. These included amendments to the Electronic Transactions Law, Notary Public Law, Endowments, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Sites Law, Sharia Execution Law, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Law, as well as the Gas Law and Insurance Contracts Law. The House also referred several agreements for ratification, including extradition agreements with Spain and Uzbekistan, a loan agreement with Italy, and agreements related to the exploration and development of copper and associated minerals in the Abu Khashiba area.

In its seventh session, the first oversight session held on December 1, the House discussed 10 parliamentary questions and government responses. During the session, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh addressed a question on plastic gas cylinders, stating that only cylinders meeting approved standards would be allowed entry, noting that 135,000 cylinders had been inspected out of 200,000 imported units.

In its eighth session on December 3, the House approved amendments to the Official Gazette Law and the Sharia Execution Law.

Between December 8 and 11, the House held four consecutive sessions to deliberate on the draft general budget law for 2026. The discussions began with the presentation of the Finance Committee’s report and continued over four sessions lasting a total of nearly 25 hours, during which 126 MPs spoke. The House approved the budget by majority vote, with 86 MPs in favor, and a projected deficit of approximately JD2.125 billion.

On December 22, during its thirteenth session, the House approved amendments to the Electronic Transactions Law of 2025, following its referral to a joint parliamentary committee and subsequent approval.

In its fourteenth session on December 24, the House referred the Audit Bureau’s 2024 report to the Finance Committee after an initial review of its findings. During its fifteenth session on the same day, it approved the amended Endowments, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Sites Law of 2025, following its earlier referral and committee approval.

The House resumed its work in 2026 with its sixteenth session on January 5, which also served as an oversight session during which 11 parliamentary questions were discussed. During the session, a question on "decent work and its standards" was converted into an interpellation.

On January 14, during its seventeenth session, the House began deliberations on the amended Competition Law of 2025, approving three articles. It completed the approval of the remaining articles during its eighteenth session on January 21, thereby passing the amended law after prior review by the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Investment.

The session concluded after a legislative cycle that included the referral, discussion, and approval of a wide range of draft laws and agreements, alongside continued parliamentary oversight of government performance.

More to follow...

//Petra// AJ

22/04/2026 14:46:06