MPs deliberate ‘information law’; sign off 7 clauses

Amman: The majority of House MPs voted in favour of a bill that calls for the membership of the Presidents of the Bar Association and the Press Association and representatives of CSOs in the Information Council. House MPs Wednesday discussed a draft amendment to the right for access to information law and signed off seven clauses out of the 16 in the draft law. The House approved articles four, five, six and seven with the participation of Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh in Wednesday's session after it had approved the first three in a separate session. The draft Information Law ensures the right of Jordanians to access information according to the law. Information includes "any written data, records, statistics or documents written, photographed, recorded, stored electronically or in any way." The would-be formed Information Council would be headed by the Culture Minister with the membership of an Information Commissioner, the SGs of the Interior and Justice Ministries, the Directors-General of the Gener al Statistics Department, the Moral Guidance in the Jordanian Armed Forces and the General Commissioner for Human Rights. The Prime Minister would name Council members of the Bar Association, the Press Association and representatives of CSOs for two years. Separately, House Speaker Ahmed Safadi discussed medical exemptions and said there would be a meeting of the Parliamentary Health Committee next Sunday to discuss the matter further. Khasawneh said, "Our position has not changed, and we adhere to our principles in defending Palestine and its just cause. We are honoured to stand up, contribute, participate and offer our expertise in serving the Palestinians and the Palestinian cause." He added, "We will provide the necessary legal reviews and arguments as soon as the International Court of Justice decides to consider the genocide lawsuit submitted by South Africa, which is a case, not a consultation, based on the Genocide Convention." Source: Jordan News Agency