Constitutional amendments in Jordan

In Jordan far from the spotlight, a new political constitution is currently being formed, as inspired by the famous incident of deportation which occurred 11 years ago, whereby the head of the Hamas movement political office Khaled Mash'al, where a royal commission for constitutional amendments to the "prohibition" of the removal of the Jordanian citizen from his country for any reason and under any pretext. According to the publication "Al-Quds al-Arabi", the commission about the Jordanian citizen constitutionally immune to deportation, or even prevent him from returning for any reason, was headed by former Senate President Ahmad al-Lozi. The Jordanian authorities say that this constitutional trend is related to the most famous incident of deportation that the country has witnessed in decades, which saw Mashal and a number of Hamas leaders expelled from Amman on the pretext of their establishment of an "illegal organization" in the Jordanian region. This subsequently prevented Mashal from returning and renewing his Jordanian passport. The general view taken by politicians is that this proposed constitutional amendment correlates with the ongoing controversy at the top level surrounding the incident of deportation described. Abdelraouf al-Rawabdeh, the Prime Minister who deported Mashal and his colleagues stated just days ago that he does not regret his decision, especially with regards to Hamas movement case in 1999 and 2000. At a public seminar he raised controversy as he hinted that he would be prepared to take the same measures again, were the same circumstances to be repeated. According to the source "Al-Quds al-Arabi", the Commission of the constitutional amendments has drawn this topic to a close, as the state will propose a provision in the Constitution which prevents the deportation of Jordanian citizens. Also prohibited under the new law, is the undertaking of measures to prevent any Jordanian citizen from returning to his country. This amendment addresses several complaints relating to cases where the government has refrained from renewing Jordanians' documents abroad for security reasons, and thus has not allowed them to return. In this context, the new Minister of the Interior in Jordan, Mazen Saket has pledged to work on a detailed plan concerning the issue of the disengagement of applications. He has also pledged to put an end to the growing debate on the withdrawal of nationalities. Saket highlighted three key issues that he will focus on in the coming months; he considers that it will be of the utmost important to identify, clarify, and elaborate on procedures involving the changing of cards which must be shown at border crossings, and on the withdrawal of national security numbers. Saket is a prestigious personality, and a well-known national figure in Jordan, and was formally a member of the opposition. This is the first time that someone of these qualities and characteristics has taken up the position of Minister of the Interior.