Two women MPs complain over alleged assault by gendarmes

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Sunday pledged to investigate an alleged assault incident against two female deputies in front of Parliament.

“We will not accept any attack against any deputy regardless of the reason,” Ensour told MPs a few minutes after hearing Deputy Rula Hroub complain under the Dome about the alleged attack.

“Whoever has a complaint can file one and we will seriously look into it. This is an issue that we will not ignore,” the premier said, adding that he is speaking on behalf of himself and the interior minister.

MPs Rula Hroub (Stronger Jordan list) and Hind Fayez (Central Badia) were taking part in a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament with members of six political parties who were protesting against the draft elections law when the alleged assault occurred.

The political parties were protesting against scrapping the national list from the bill and were also demanding a seat for women in each constituency, according to Fayez.

Fayez told The Jordan Times outside Parliament in Abdali that gendarmerie forces dispersed the protesters and that both she and Hroub “were attacked in the process”.

“I may consider resigning if proper measures are not taken by the government,” the lawmaker said.

Hroub urged Interior Minister Salameh Hammad, who attended the Lower House session, to launch an investigation into the incident.

“The attack against us is an attack against the legitimacy of the Lower House,” she said.

Likewise, Fayez also expressed her anger over the alleged assault, urging the interior minister to resign.

“I was being pushed and assaulted by the police although I told them I was a deputy. One officer said ‘a deputy or not, it does not matter’ as he shoved me,” she charged.

Fayez told her fellow deputies that the “attack against her was an attack on all MPs’ dignity”.

Hroub, who sat in the Lower House’s gallery briefly in solidarity with a coalition that gathered to demand a seat for women in each of the constituencies, told The Jordan Times that “the attack resembles the government’s refusal to accept any peaceful demonstrations against the new draft bill.”

“This is an indicator that the government has no intention of allowing this law to pass in Parliament because it prevented a peaceful demonstration,” she charged.

Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi was unavailable all evening to comment on the incident.