House ends suspension of MP involved in shooting incident

AMMAN — The Lower House on Wednesday voted to end the suspension of MP Qusai Dmeisi, penalised almost six months ago for having had an altercation with a colleague, which led to a shooting incident at Parliament.

The membership of Dmeisi (Zarqa, 4th District) was frozen for a year following the shooting incident in September, which also led to the dismissal of Talal Sharif (Amman, 1st District) who fired at least two bullets from his AK47 during the quarrel.

Dmeisi, who reportedly provoked Sharif, has recently sent a letter of apology for his behaviour to the legislature, according to a House statement.

Sources told The Jordan Times following the incident that Dmeisi and Sharif had an argument before the  incident and it took a violent turn when the former rejected reconciliation.

The shooting was unprecedented in the history of Jordan’s parliamentary life. It was received with shock locally and internationally, forcing the House to take the decision to expel the shooter and suspend Dmeisi.

Sharif is on trial for threatening Dmeisi with a gun and carrying an automatic weapon in a public meeting. Maximum punishment for either misdemeanour is three years in jail.