AMMAN —
The controversial energy dossier and the government’s move to raise the price
of fuel derivative for the fourth month running took center stage Monday at the
Lower House’s first business session since Parliament convened in an ordinary
session earlier this month, according to local media outlets.
اضافة اعلان
Deputies were
supposed to debate draft laws referred to them by the government.
Speaker Ahmed
Al-Safadi’s tried to defer discussion of the fuel prices file, saying that it
will be referred to the
Lower House Energy Committee, but lawmakers dedicated
all their interventions to this issue, waging harsh attacks against the
government, which was represented by Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh.
Lawmakers asked
that the public’s high cost of living, which has increased because of the
recent increase in fuel prices, be taken into consideration.
Deputies expressed
disapproval of the fact that they are not consulted on decisions that directly
affect the lives of citizens.
Khasawneh retorted
by saying that the state Treasury does not have the luxury of subsidizing fuel
derivatives. The government subsidized fuel by JD550 million last year; it
cannot do that again because it does not have the funds, and if it were forced
to subsidize fuel, the budget deficit would increase by an additional JD550
million, he said.
Khasawneh denied
allegations that his government topped the list of borrowers in the history of
the Kingdom, pointing to the fact that the difference between revenue generated
from taxes and public spending, which covers public sector wages, or 70 percent
of the budget, is JD2 billion, which had forced governments to resort to
borrowing to cover this basic spending for years.
Lawmaker Firas
Al-Sawair said that the government must no longer prioritize Cabinet reshuffles
and must refrain from taking controversial decisions — such as firing the head
of the
Audit Bureau — without explaining such decisions to Parliament.
Sawair said that
the JD2 billion the government borrows annually “is all at the expense of our
children”.
“The government
charges a fixed tax on oil derivatives and collects JD1.2 billion annually,”
Sawair said adding that “this tax has broken the back of the Jordanian
citizen.”
At one point,
Deputy Atta Ibdah called for a vote of no confidence in the government because
of repeated hikes in fuel prices. He asked the government to retract its
decision to raise fuel prices.
The row over energy prices comes few days before the Lower
House begins debating the 2023 general budget draft law.
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