AMMAN (Middle East Eye) – Jordan’s interior ministry has announced the arrest of former MP Osama al-Ajarmeh, following a parliamentary decision to oust him earlier this month.
According to the official Jordanian news agency, Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya confirmed the lawmaker’s arrest based on a memorandum issued by the State Security Court Prosecutor, but did not provide details on the charges brought against him.
The Jordanian House of Representatives voted on 6 June in favor of sacking Ajarmeh over what the MPs considered “offensive” statements against the king and society.
The decision came days after parliament temporarily suspended his membership because of his “abuse of the council, its members and its internal system”, according to a parliament statement following his speech regarding the power outage that plunged the kingdom into darkness last month.
On 21 May, electricity was completely cut off throughout Jordan, and power distribution companies told the Turkish Anadolu news agency that the reason was a malfunction in the transmission network of the state electricity company.
At the time, Ajarmeh accused the government of “deliberate” nationwide power outages to prevent a pro-Palestine march on the capital Amman by tribes demanding the expulsion of the Zionist regime’s ambassador following deadly air strikes on Gaza.
The sacking of Ajarmeh, an outspoken tribal figure, has triggered concerns about the potential for rising tensions between the monarchy and the MP’s tribal allies.