AMMAN // Jordan's parliament yesterday narrowly cleared the prime minister from involvement in a high-profile corruption case involving the licensing of a casino on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.
Parliament voted 53 to 50 not to indict Marof Bakhit. Ten other members abstained from the impeachment vote and six did not attend the session, according to the official news agency.
On Sunday, a 10-member parliamentary committee accused the prime minister, in a 65-page report, of abuse of power and held him "morally and legally accountable" in a case that has gripped the nation for several months. Sixteen former ministers including one serving cabinet member were also implicated.
The 120-member lower house of parliament began debating the case yesterday ahead of the expected vote.
According to the constitution, parliament is the only body authorised to impeach ministers after securing two-thirds of the house's vote. The casino case dates back to 2007 when Mr Bakhit's government signed an agreement with a British Company, Oasis Holding Investment Ltd, to operate a casino in Sweimeh. The deal was to give the government up to 40 per cent of the revenue. But, under much public pressure, the agreement was put on hold.
Gambling, which is against Islamic law, is banned in Jordan unless the government approves a law that sanctions it. At the time of the agreement, a higher council of tourism in 2007 approved a decision to include gambling as a tourist profession.
But the government violated the tourism law when it did not publish the decision in the Gazette, the government's official record, said Rabie Hamzeh, an independent attorney and an advisor to the ministry of tourism. "The tourism law also specifies that there be licensing procedures for any tourist profession, but this did not take place also," Mr Hamzeh said.
The agreement was also criticised because it requires any dispute be arbitrated in the United Kingdom instead of Jordan.
"Jordanian courts have no jurisdiction over the agreement and the dispute. It should be according to the country's laws. Jordan is a sovereign country," Mr Hamzeh said.
Last week, Mr Bakhit asked for a discussion of the case to be included in an extraordinary session of parliament.
smaayeh@thenational.ae
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013