AMMAN: Jordanian MPs voted on Sunday to expel Osama Al-Ajarmeh from parliament after he was accused of sparking riots over the weekend.
The emergency session was held after violence erupted in the suburb of Naour, a stronghold of the Ajarmeh tribe in southwest Amman.
Four police officers were wounded in clashes with supporters of the dismissed MP, the Public Security Department (PSD) said.
Of the 130-member lower chamber, 108 MPs voted in favor of expelling Al-Ajarmeh.
The MP was seen in a video insulting King Abdullah II while carrying a sword and a gun in a shoulder holster.
The injured police officers were taken to hospital after being hit by stones, the PSD said.
During Sunday’s session, the house speaker, Abdulmunim Oddat, and several other MPs denounced Al-Ajarmeh’s “perverted utterances” and “devious, slanderous” allegations aimed at the king.
“I hereby declare the parliament’s support to the king against all attempts targeting his prestige, and rejects any tampering with the kingdom’s social fabric, its tribal and family harmony, and social peace, which form the basis for Jordan’s security and stability,” the Jordan news agency, Petra, reported Oddat as saying.
Last week, MPs voted to freeze Al-Ajarmeh’s membership of parliament for a year after he was caught on video cursing the chamber during an emergency session to discuss nationwide power outages.
The outspoken MP had accused the the government of deliberately plunging the country into darkness to prevent a march on Amman organized by Jordan’s tribes seeking to have the Israeli ambassador expelled for the recent bombing campaign in Gaza.
With his membership frozen, Al-Ajarmeh submitted a resignation letter to the house in which he expressed dismay over the constitutional provision that gives the king the power to dissolve parliament.
Al-Ajarmeh was then seen in many videos making bold statements while surrounded by his supporters, threatening to establish a “radical Jordanian right wing” of tribes and ex-army figures to “purify Amman of the liberal elite” whom he accused of being behind the country’s woes.
The government said on Sunday it would not tolerate any acts threatening the country’s stability and security, adding that no one is above the law.
A security source told Arab News that the security agencies were dealing with renewed rioting in suburban Naour involving protests over Al-Ajarmeh’s dismissal.
