The Lower House in Jordan witnesses Sunday the last debate on the Israeli gas agreement that has become effective since the beginning of 2019. Observers see this session as the last chance for the government to deal with the agreement triggering popular rage.
Passing a new law that bans importing Israeli gas is the major legislative exit for the parliament, following several past failures in terminating the agreement.
The session comes after popular rage marches in the past weeks in Amman and other provinces. The most recent one was launched from Amman on Friday evening to reject the Israeli gas deal.
Amid slogans holding Jordan's Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz’s government responsible for handing out the energy-decision to the Israeli enemy and accusing organizers of the agreement of treason, the protesters demanded that the parliament ousts the government in the wake of its insistence on neglecting the people’s demands.
Last week, around 30 deputies signed a memorandum to withdraw confidence from the government over the import of Israeli gas to Jordan. Meanwhile, Jordan's PM committed to providing a resume on the energy-matter at the beginning of the session.
The Lower House witnessed an intense debate between two parliamentarian sides – the first is represented by the Islamist Reform bloc and the second by an adversary bloc that demands a law to interrupt importing gas from Israel.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper received a copy of the draft submitted to the legal committee. It includes three articles. Mainly, the second article stipulates that despite what any other law says, no ministry or state institution or company owned by the state can import gas or petroleum derivatives to the Zionist entity.
