Khaberni - Dr. Falah Al-Areeni
O Speaker of our Council, the issue is not your denial or acknowledgment of the presence of American forces... these are minor details in light of the bigger mistake you have committed:
You spoke on behalf of the government before you exercised your supervisory duty over it.
You were not elected – assuming, for the sake of argument, that the choice was indeed made by popular will – to be a shield for governments, nor to play the role of a state minister or official spokesman.
You sit on the highest seat in the legislative authority, yet you act as if you are under the executive authority's umbrella, not above it in supervision and accountability.
How do you allow yourself to deny, confirm, justify, and explain... before asking?
Who appointed you?
And who gave you the authority to answer before a question was asked?
And who placed you in the position of protector of the government rather than the protector of the constitution?
With this behavior, you have not only exceeded the limits of your role... but you have cancelled the role of the council entirely, making the legislative authority appear as nothing more than an administrative attachment of the government.
O Speaker of our Council,
The dispute is not about the nature of the foreign presence, but about your complete absence from exercising the most important duties of your position.
You were supposed to be the first to seek the truth… not the first to bury it.
And the first to interrogate… not the first to exonerate.
And the first to demand answers… not the first to distribute them on behalf of others.
The most dangerous thing happening today is not what's above the ground or beneath it.
But from the chair you sit on, when the people's podium turns into an echo of the government's voice.
O Speaker of our Council,
What you have recently issued is not just a transient political statement, but a clear violation of the principle of separation of powers enshrined in the Jordanian constitution, and an overreach of the powers specified in Articles (24) and (25) and (51–56) of the constitution, which grant the council the right to accountability and oversight, not justification and defense.
You, by virtue of your position, are not authorized to issue statements concerning the presence of any forces or military agreements on the state's soil.
These are purely executive powers exercised through the government and the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, and then presented to the House of Representatives for oversight and accountability, not to pass “reassuring” messages on behalf of the executive authority.
Your recent statement constitutes:
1. A constitutional overreach
Because you provided a governmental answer before exercising a supervisory question.
Thus, you violated the essence of the supervisory role of the council as stipulated in Articles (33) and (51) and (53), which make the government accountable to the council, not vice versa.
2. A deviation from your function contrary to the will of those who appointed you
One who represents the people does not precede them in denial, nor reduce his role to exonerating the government before any case is opened.
You have transformed, by your words, from the president of a supervisory authority to an unofficial spokesman for the government, which is a breach of the political agency principle upon which the legitimacy of the council is based.
3. An indirect disabling of the deputies' right to request information when the president denies something before discussing it, creating an impression of direction and weakening the deputies' ability to exercise their right to question and interrogate, a constitutional right that the president cannot confiscate or limit.
4. An impairment to the council's prestige and status
The constitution did not grant you the authority to “close a file before opening it,” nor the authority to “issue a governmental stance.”
And what you did is considered, according to parliamentary norms, an illegitimate practice of competencies not yours, and damaging the image of the House of Representatives, which is supposed to be the highest supervisory authority, not “the promotional partner” of the government.
O Speaker of our Council,
The issue is not the presence or absence of foreign forces... The issue is that you have exceeded your position and acted outside the boundaries of the mandate given to you by the constitution.
And if it is your duty to protect the council from marginalization by the executive authority, you should start by protecting your position from your own practices.
