Health minister, pharmacists expected to set date for syndicate elections

AMMAN — Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab is scheduled to meet with a delegation representing pharmacists on Sunday to set a date to elect a new council for the Jordan Pharmacists Association (JPhA). 

The meeting comes days after the Law Interpretation Bureau (LIB) issued a decision resolving the dispute that had delayed the election of the JPhA’s new council. 

The syndicate’s council was dissolved in May 2015 after the resignation of five members. 

Elections for a new council were scheduled for May 20, 2016, but the then health minister Ali Hiasat suspended the vote pending the LIB’s ruling on whether the upcoming council should be considered a new one or as complementary to the previous one. 

The bureau decided on Thursday that the upcoming council will be considered a new one, explaining that the previous council –– dissolved over a year ago –– was considered to have completed its full tenure.  

Former JPhA president Ahmad Issa told The Jordan Times on Saturday that a delegation from the association’s rescue committee will meet the minister on Sunday to discuss setting a date for the elections.

He described the issuance of a decision by the LIB as a “good gesture” from the authorities, adding that elections will “most likely” be held before the end of July. 

Issa said the ruling was in response to protests and sit-ins by pharmacists who wanted the government to set a date for the council elections as soon as possible because “it was unacceptable to keep the association without a council for over a year”.

Last Monday, dozens of pharmacists staged a sit-in outside the Health Ministry’s headquarters to press authorities to solve the issue. 

Pharmacists will have to elect 10 members and a president to form the JPhA council. According to the law, if five members or more resign, the council must be dissolved.