Khaled Abulkhair
Albawaba.com - Amman
The brawl between Jordanian lawmakers Ahmed Owaidi Al Abbadi and Mansour Murad, which ended with the former gnawing off part of the latter’s ear, has taken on a new dimension as other parliamentarians have attempted to mediate.
In a hopeful sign, medical sources have confirmed that Murad has undergone successful surgery on the mangled ear.
MP Abdul Razzak Tbaishat told Albawaba.com that “parliamentary efforts are now being made to contain the incident and settle the matter between the two MPs, indicating that what has happened is painful and damaging to Jordanian democracy. It is shameful for [my] colleagues to put themselves in such a situation.”
“Regardless of the reasons for this situation, there is no justification for members of parliament to commit such actions and substitute fighting for dialogue,” said MP and former house speaker Saad Hayel Srour.
Srour viewed the incident as a violation of democratic proceedings and established social values, adding that the incident had harmed Jordan’s democratic and civilized image.
He further said that he would urge present House Speaker Abdel Hadi Al Majali to refer the case file to the prosecutor general.
Another lawmaker, Mahmoud Kharabsheh, said: “The incident constitutes a violation of norms, customs, traditions, the Constitution and the law, because two MPs who are supposed to represent the country were involved in it.”
“The two have explicitly violated and assaulted the privacy of the Jordanian community, whom we are proud of as a unified community free of discrimination,” Kharabsheh went on. “Our community does not favor any citizen at the expense of others, and it values people according to the degree of their loyalty and work for the country. The ‘regional’ insults by the two members do not serve anybody except the country’s enemies.”
Kharbsheh pointed out that the house speaker had used his power under the parliament’s internal regulations by referring the two to the prosecutor general.
On the other hand, lawmakers are currently striving for reconciliation between the two, and to end a problem that “should not have happened at the parliament, or anywhere else, because it insults the country and undermines its development,” said the parliamentarian.
For his account of the brawl, Abbadi said that as he was leaving the parliament building yesterday, he was surprised by Murad, allegedly in the company of three young Circassian men who had recently quarreled with members of his tribe, the Al Ababid.
Abbadi added that after an argument, Murad insulted him and cursed his father and all the Arabs.
As a result, Abbadi said, a fight erupted. However, he denied biting Murad’s ear, saying that he had no idea how part of his foe’s ear ended up on the ground.
Murad has been unavailable for comment, as he was admitted to a private hospital as part of efforts to restore the severed part of his ear to its original location - Albawaba.com
