AMMAN: Jordanian MPs on Monday imposed a two-year suspension on their colleague Hassan Al-Riyati for “violent and indecent behavior” during the lower house’s session on constitutional amendments.
A majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the parliamentary disciplinary committee’s recommendation to impose a two-year membership freeze on Al-Riyati, a representative of Jordan’s southern port city of Aqaba.
Al-Riyati was among three other MPs who engaged in fisticuffs when the chamber descended into a mass brawl on Dec. 28 last year following a heated discussion over controversial constitutional amendments.
The incident began after a session opened with a discussion on proposed constitutional amendments, under which the term “female Jordanians” was added to the title of the second chapter of the constitution on Jordanians’ rights and duties.
Some MPs, especially women, claimed that the amendment will create discrimination between Jordanians based on gender.
The heated discussion ignited verbal altercations and an exchange of insults between House Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi and Deputy Suleiman Abu Yahya, who accused Dughmi of an “inability to run the show.”
In press remarks following Monday’s session, Al-Riyati described the decision to suspend him as “unfair and biased,” adding that the disciplinary committee’s report on the case was “inaccurate and faulty.”
Al-Riyati said that the committee recommended no disciplinary measures against other lawmakers who were also involved in the brawl.
“No single punishment was imposed on the MPs who insulted God and our female colleague using blasphemous and indecent behavior,” Al-Riyati added.
The lawmaker said that he would challenge the suspension decision or would resign. “All options are on the table now, but I have not made up my mind yet.”
Following the session on Dec. 28, Al-Riyati was given a hero’s welcome by his supporters in Aqaba, about 300 kilometers south of the capital, Amman.
At the time, the deputy justified his violent behavior during the session as “a defense of God and the honor of his female colleague.”
