{"id":1173276,"date":"2021-12-30T17:04:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T22:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1173276"},"modified":"2021-12-30T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T22:04:10","slug":"womens-rights-debate-triggers-parliament-brawl-in-jordan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/womens-rights-debate-triggers-parliament-brawl-in-jordan\/","title":{"rendered":"Women&#039;s Rights Debate Triggers Parliament Brawl in Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwomens-rights-debate-triggers-parliament-brawl-in-jordan%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1173276&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/jordanian-mps-separated-heated-row-parliament-capital-amman-afp-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\"><span>A fistfight broke out in the Jordanian parliament on Tuesday during a debate over amending the national constitution to strengthen equal rights for women. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Specifically, reformers supported by King Abdullah II want to add female nouns to a clause that would clearly state both men and women have the same nationality and citizenship rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Several deputies traded punches in a brawl in Jordan&#8217;s parliament after a verbal row escalated when the assembly speaker called on a deputy to leave, witnesses said <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4WVq2L1Div\">https:\/\/t.co\/4WVq2L1Div<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RqA04SZHeY\">pic.twitter.com\/RqA04SZHeY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Reuters (@Reuters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reuters\/status\/1475899348437327883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 28, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The background for the parliamentary brawl was a bit more complicated than just fighting over the explicit addition of women to the array of Jordanian constitutional protections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Opposition legislators <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2021\/12\/28\/mps-brawl-in-jordan-parliament-over-plan-to-increase-king-s-powers\"><span>accuse<\/span><\/a><span> King Abdullah of pushing changes into the 1952 constitution to increase the power of the monarchy, under the guise of implementing modernist reforms that will make Jordan more appealing to foreign travelers and investors.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Some international observers note with suspicion that Abdullah\u2019s push for \u201cprogressive\u201d reforms is happening at the same time Jordan grows noticeably more authoritarian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Freedom House<\/span><span>, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/jordan\">downgraded<\/a> Jordan from \u201cPartly Free\u201d to \u201cNot Free\u201d in the 2021 edition of its <\/span><i><span>Freedom in the World <\/span><\/i><span>report, in part due to emergency powers asserted by the government during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic was also blamed for a somewhat dodgy election that left the legislature more stacked than ever with Abdullah loyalists, and it was stacked to begin with, since the king directly appoints many of the legislators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unfortunately from the Western perspective, the Jordanian opposition includes a large number of Islamists and tribal leaders who could be less interested in liberalization than King Abdullah, should Jordan become more of a limited constitutional monarchy. An <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.timesofisrael.com\/the-muslim-brotherhood-winners-of-the-arab-spring\/\"><span>Arab Spring-style outbreak<\/span><\/a><span> of greater political freedom leading to even more illiberal government is a distinct possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In many ways, the situation in Jordan resembles that of Saudi Arabia, where de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman entered the public stage with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2016\/04\/26\/saudi-arabia-approves-plan-post-oil-economy\/\">package of ambitious reforms<\/a> to modernize the kingdom and reduce its dependence on the oil trade \u2013 and was subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transparency.org\/en\/blog\/authoritarianism-and-corruption-in-saudi-arabia\">criticized<\/a> for using authoritarian tactics to implement his reforms, consolidate his power, destroy his adversaries, and stifle dissent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The parliamentary debate over constitutional reform has been acrimonious ever since it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/jordan-parliament-begins-debate-constitutional-changes-2021-11-22\/\"><span>began<\/span><\/a><span> in November, when opposition leaders accused the king and his allies of plotting a \u201ccoup against the Jordanian constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>On Tuesday, the parliament <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/12\/29\/middleeast\/jordan-parliament-fight-intl\/index.html\"><span>came to blows<\/span><\/a><span> when lawmaker Abdulmunim Oddat defended amending the constitution so both men and women receive full and equal citizenship rights. Oddat said the change would merely create \u201clinguistic equality\u201d and correct outmoded linguistics from the 1950s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While some hardline Islamists object to this change on religious and cultural grounds, more measured critics note that it would have significant repercussions for Jordan\u2019s inheritance laws, which are based on Muslim <\/span><i><span>sharia <\/span><\/i><span>law and stipulate much larger shares for male heirs. Also, under current Jordanian law, men can confer Jordanian citizenship onto their wives and children, but women cannot do the same when they marry non-Jordanian men.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A heated argument broke out between lawmakers and soon escalated into punching, slapping, and grappling, plus some language described as \u201cblasphemous\u201d by witnesses \u2013 of which there were quite a few, because the debate was carried live on Jordanian television:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fist fight in Jordan&#8217;s parliament caught on live stream<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/al5npJFpqK\">https:\/\/t.co\/al5npJFpqK<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TXHFvSNMYm\">pic.twitter.com\/TXHFvSNMYm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCWorld\/status\/1476103983802560514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 29, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The brawl ended when Parliament speaker Abdelkarim al-Daghmi stormed out of the chamber and the legislative session was adjourned.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fistfight broke out in the Jordanian parliament on Tuesday during a debate over amending the national constitution to strengthen equal rights for women. Specifically, reformers supported by King &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1173276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1173276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1173276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1173276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1173276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}