AKEED, Osamah Rawajfeh

Many media outlets have mixed up the names and number of the members of the Lower House of Parliament who refused to withdraw confidence from Hani Mulki's government, supported withdrawing it, abstained, or did not attend the session held by the Lower House to vote on a no-confidence motion. The vote was held on Sunday, 18 February 2018, based on a memorandum signed by 22 MPs and put forward by the Reform Bloc.

Several media outlets, including daily newspapers, preferred to use the terms "granting confidence" and "renewing confidence" in their news and headlines when covering the proceedings of the session. However, one daily newspaper used the term "not withdrawing confidence" in a story it published in its print edition. The story ran as follows: "The Lower House of Parliament on Sunday afternoon refused to withdraw confidence from Hani Mulki's government four months after its formation." Likewise, Arabic news websites used the same term in their headlines. One headline read: "Jordanian Lower House Refuses To Withdraw Confidence From Government of Hani Mulki."

The 18th Lower House of Parliament granted Dr. Hani Mulki's government confidence on 24 November 2016 with a majority of 84 MPs, while 40 MPs withheld confidence, four MPs abstained, and one MP was absent due to an excuse. The speaker of the Lower House did not vote.

Article 53/3 of the Constitution stipulates that "each Cabinet that is formed shall submit its policy statement to the Lower House of Parliament within one month of the date of its formation if the House is in session and shall request confidence on the basis of this statement."

Article 53/1 of the Constitution stipulates that "a session of no confidence in the Cabinet or any minister in it shall be held either at the request of the Prime Minister or a request signed by at least 10 members of the Lower House of Parliament."

The above two articles show that the Constitution takes a gradual approach toward the confidence issue, first by granting it by the Lower House of Parliament based on a policy statement submitted by the government within one month of its formation. "In this case, we say that the House granted confidence to the government," according to Waleed Habahbeh, a journalist specialized in parliamentary affairs. The journalist told AKEED that "what happened yesterday was that confidence was not withdrawn from the government, and not granting or renewing it."

Media outlets ran conflicting stories on the number of MPs who signed the no-confidence memorandum. Although daily newspapers spoke about 22 MPs, some news websites reported that the number of signatories reached 24, while some noted that there was no accurate figure of the MPs who signed the no-confidence memorandum.

Social media websites circulated news to the effect that 19 MPs had left the country for Saudi Arabia on the morning of the no-confidence vote session to perform minor pilgrimage. One website denied this news after contacting a source, without revealing his identity. The evening vote on the same day showed that the news about the travel of MPs was indeed false.

Haste in reporting news on websites played a role in conveying inaccurate information following the outcome of the vote as 67 MPs did not withdraw confidence from the government, 49 were in favor of withdrawing it, four members abstained, while 9 MPs were absent. The total is 130 MPs, who make up the number of the members of the Lower House, including Speaker Atef Tarawneh, who did not vote.

The MPs who did not attend the session, according to an announcement by the General Secretariat of the Lower House, are Mousa Wahsh, Mahmoud Titi, Ali Hajahjeh, Mohammed Atayqeh, Raid Khazaeleh, Hassan Suud, Mahasin Sharaa, Nawwaf Nouimat, and Muntaha Bouul.

A website published on its Facebook page a story, stating that "MPs of Mafraq, Maan, and Bedouins of the South have fully granted confidence to the government of Mulki despite the fact that some of them had signed a no-confidence memorandum before the approval of the budget." The story included a photo of "a protest in Maan against Mulki's government two days ago."

Going back to the list of MPs, it turned out that MP Mohammed Falhat from Maan had withdrawn confidence. Besides, MP Raid Khazaeleh appeared on the list of the Lower House's General Secretariat of the MPs who were absent from the session. Therefore, not all the MPs of the governorates of Maan and Mafraq refused to withdraw confidence from the government of Prime Minister Hani Mulki during the session.

The lists published by websites included mistakes in the names of MPs who refused to withdraw confidence and those who were in favor of withdrawing it. The lists have MP Reem Abu Dalbooh as withdrawing confidence, while in fact she refused to withdraw confidence from the government. Among the 20 women MPs, 9 withdrew confidence, 8 refused to withdraw confidence, and two women (Wafaa Bani Mustafa and Manal Dumur) abstained. One woman, Muntaha Bouul, was absent from the session.

No sooner had media outlets finished talking about withdrawing confidence than they started talking about an anticipated reshuffle of the government of Dr. Hani Mulki. They based this news on expectations without attributing it to clear and specific sources that confirm or deny the possibility of resorting to a reshuffle after the Lower House renewed its confidence in the government.

One website published the following story: "Knowledgeable sources have confirmed that Prime Minister Hani Mulki would carry out a reshuffle of his government in the next two days. The sources said that the portfolios that would be affected were most probably five to six, including one sovereign ministry."

Majed Ameer, a journalist specialized in parliamentary affairs, told AKEED that "the talk about a cabinet reshuffle is closer to reality than being rumors these days." He adds: "I think that the prime minister, in the wake of his declared illness, was advised to reshuffle the Cabinet to appoint a strong deputy prime minister who can help him handle the next government files. The prime minister may take advantage of this to allow new ministers into the government, including a minister of transport to succeed the minister who resigned."

On the reasons for mistakes in the news reported by the media about the no-confidence session, Ameer says that "parliamentary affairs specifically need specialized journalists to cover them since they are related to experiences, key of which are legislative experiences. However, what happens when there is a major story or crises at the Lower House, such as a no-confidence motion, we see increased coverage and a large number of journalists, who are not specialized, showing up. This is more likely to result in mistakes in view of the weak experience in this field."

He adds that "the story about 19 MPs traveling to perform minor pilgrimage cannot be believed by a journalist who is specialized in covering parliamentary affairs, even if he hears it from an employee in the Lower House. It is unreasonable for 19 MPs to leave the country on the day when there is a no-confidence vote. There are many ways to confirm a story when there is doubt about its credibility, including contacting the General Secretariat of the Lower House."

He points out that "a specialized journalist has relations with most MPs and is aware of their leanings. Therefore, he can expect their positions toward the issues raised at the Lower House, let alone the fact that he has easy access to most MPs and to the General Secretariat to confirm any piece of news."

Journalist Waleed Habahbeh attributes mistakes in coverage of the Lower House of Parliament to copying news. He notes that media outlets rely on one person to monitor the proceedings of sessions. This will result in duplicating mistakes. In addition, some people copy from media outlets without confirming news.