Parliamentary blocs announce their candidates for the "House of Representatives" presidency

The Secretary-General of the Mubadara Party, Dr. Mohammad Abu Hudaib, said after a meeting held by the bloc at the House of Representatives building that the bloc had decided to nominate Dr. Mustafa Al-Khasawneh for the presidency of the House, confirming that the decision was taken unanimously, and that a committee had been formed to negotiate with other parliamentary blocs.

For its part, the Centrist and Reform Parties bloc announced the nomination of MP Dr. Suleiman Al-Zaben for the presidency of the House of Representatives, following a meeting held the evening before last, during which they agreed on his nomination, according to what MPs in the bloc reported.

The MPs indicated that the bloc had tasked MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Amawi with conducting consultations with other parliamentary blocs.

The National Charter bloc is scheduled to meet today, Tuesday, to discuss its position on the House of Representatives presidency elections and to announce its candidate for the position.

In a related context, the Azm parliamentary bloc held a meeting yesterday to discuss the House of Representatives presidency elections and the positions of the Permanent Office.

The party's Secretary-General, Zaid Naffa, said that the bloc had decided to nominate MP Ayman Abu Hanieh for the position of First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, noting that the bloc is awaiting the outcome of the understandings between the parliamentary blocs regarding the presidency of the House and the positions of the Permanent Office, and that the Azm party will put forward a candidate for the presidency of the House in the event that no consensus is reached.

The House of Representatives witnessed discussions yesterday between representatives of the parliamentary blocs regarding the elections for the presidency of the House and the Permanent Office, as part of efforts to reach understandings that enjoy broad parliamentary support.

Parliamentary sources said that discussions are taking place between the National Charter, Mubadara, Centrist and Reform Parties, and Azm blocs, with the aim of agreeing on a single figure from among the candidates for the presidency of the House of Representatives, to be a candidate who enjoys the consensus of these blocs, whose total members number about 100 MPs out of 138 members in the House.

The sources added that, after agreeing on the figure for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the four blocs will discuss the possibility of reaching a consensus on the positions of the First Deputy and Second Deputy Speaker of the House.

The sources confirmed that the positions of the Permanent Office, including the positions of the First Deputy, Second Deputy, and assistants, are also linked to the ongoing understandings between the parliamentary blocs regarding the position of the Speaker of the House.

His Majesty King Abdullah II had issued a Royal Decree summoning the National Assembly to convene for its third ordinary session on the second of next month.

Article 78 of the Constitution stipulates that the King shall summon the National Assembly to meet in its ordinary session on the first day of October of each year, and if this day falls on an official holiday, then on the first day following it that is not an official holiday. The article also allows the King to postpone the meeting of the National Assembly by a Royal Decree published in the Official Gazette to a date specified therein, provided that the duration of the postponement does not exceed two months.

Pursuant to Article (69) of the Constitution, the House of Representatives shall elect, at the beginning of each ordinary session, a Speaker for a period of one solar year, and he may be re-elected.