Lawmakers demand end to COVID lockdowns, remote learning

shahennews

 For a sixth day in a row, the Lower House Tuesday debated the government’s policy statement with lawmakers demanding an end to coronavirus lockdowns and the return to in-class education.

In a session chaired by Speaker Abdel Moneim Odat and attended by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, who hopes his cabinet will win a vote of confidence in the chamber after the marathon debate, MPs also called on the government to fight corruption and nepotism.

MP Mohammad Marayat called for ending the partial and blanket lockdowns “due to the difficult economic hardship the citizens are currently living because of taxes and rising prices, as well as the COVID-19 repercussions.”

MP Ahmad Khalaileh urged closer cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities “to develop a legislative system in all domains,” and also called for addressing observations in the Audit Bureau report that showed “many aspects of dereliction, corruption and squandering of money and energies.”

Lawmaker Imad Adwan called on the government to disclose an anti-graft policy and lay out an economic recovery, post-recovery and sustainable growth programme as well as a “comprehensive and fair” health insurance system.

He lamented the “loss of a clear” agricultural policy and demanded protection of the Jordanian produce and finding foreign markets.

Adressing the House on behalf of the Adala (Justice Bloc), MP Mejhem Sgur called on the government to come up with a timetable “for each measure it had promised,” saying words are not enough.

Sgur also said that Jordanians firmly believe that the Hashemite custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem “is an integral part of their faith and belief and is based on the unity of purpose and destiny with the Palestinian people,” citing His Majesty King Abdullah’s affirmation that Jerusalem cannot be shared or divided.

//Petra//SS