Saad Hayel Srour Explained

Saad Hayel Srour
Office1:Speaker of the House of Representatives
Term Start1:1995
Term End1:1998
Monarch1:Hussein of Jordan
Predecessor1:Taher al-Masri
Successor1:Abdul Hadi al-Majali
Term Start2:16 July 2003
Term End2:2007
Monarch2:Abdullah II of Jordan
Predecessor2:Abdul Hadi al-Majali
Successor2:Abdul Hadi al-Majali
Term Start3:10 February 2013
Term End3:3 November 2013
Monarch3:Abdullah II of Jordan
Predecessor3:Abdul Karim al-Doghmi
Successor3:Atef Tarawneh
Office4:Interior Minister
Term Start4:24 November 2010
Term End4:2 July 2011
Primeminister4:Samir Rifai
Marouf al-Bakhit
Predecessor4:Nayef Qadi
Successor4:Mazen Saket
Monarch4:Abdullah II of Jordan
Office5:Deputy Prime Minister
Term Start5:24 November 2010
Term End5:2 July 2011
Primeminister5:Samir Rifai
Marouf al-Bakhit
Monarch5:Abdullah II of Jordan
Office6:Member of the House of Representatives for Northern Badia
Term Start6:23 January 2013
Term End6:2016
Birth Place:Umm el-Jimal, Jordan
Nationality:Jordanian

Saad Hayel Srour (born 1947) is a Jordanian politician. After entering the House of Representatives during the 11th Parliament he held stints as Minister of Water and Irrigation and later Housing and Works during the early 1990s. He served terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives during the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 17th Parliaments. Between November 2010 and July 2011 he was Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister.

Life

Srour was born in 1947 in Umm el-Jimal.[1] He is from a Bedouin family.[2] He obtained a bachelor in civil engineering from the University of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.[3] [4] Srour first entered the House of Representatives during the 11th Parliament.[3] On 1 January 1991 he was named Minister of Water and Irrigation in a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Mudar Badran.[5] [6] By November 1992 this had changed to Minister of Housing and Works.[7] Srour later served in the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 17 Parliaments.[3] He was first elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Jordan in 1995.[8] Srour subsequently was Speaker of the House for several sessions during the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Parliaments.[9] On 16 July 2003 he won the election for Speaker against Abdul Hadi al-Majali with 65 against 40 votes.[10] Srour was not successful in gaining a seat during the 2010 Jordanian general election for the 16th Parliament.[11]

On 24 November 2010 Srour joined the government of Samir Rifai as Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, replacing Nayef Qadi in a cabinet reshuffle.[12] [13] He continued as Interior Minister in the government of Marouf al-Bakhit which was installed on 9 February 2011. He was made Deputy Prime Minister in al-Bakhit's cabinet.[14] He lost both positions in a cabinet reshuffle on 2 July 2011, after he received criticism from protesters for excessive police-violence against demonstrators in the 2011 Jordanian protests and for letting a for corruption jailed businessman leave the country for medical treatment.[15] He was replaced by Mazen Saket.[16]

After being elected for Northern Badia in the 2013 Jordanian general election, Srour was also elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on 10 February 2013 for a term concluding in November 2013, when a new ordinary session of legislation was scheduled to start.[9] A total of eight Representatives put themselves up for election as speaker, with four of them withdrawing before the voting started. Of the total number of 150 Representatives only 146 were able to vote, as two were absent, one had resigned and one had died. In the first round of voting Srour gained 50 votes, Mohammad Al Haj of the Islamic Centre Party gained 54, Mustafa Shneikat gained 36, and Mahmoud Kharabsheh gained 5 votes. In the second round in which Srour competed against Al Haj, Srour gained 80 votes and Al Haj 62, Srour was therefore declared winner.[9]

Srour ran as well for the November 2013 elections for Speaker, at the opening of the regular session of parliament. On 30 October 2013 the list of candidates was down to five candidates, with deputies seeing Srour and Atef Tarawneh as the strongest candidates.[17] However, after the first round of voting on 3 November 2013 the candidates that passed to the second round were Tarawneh and Abdul Karim al-Doghmi. al-Doghmi withdrew his candidacy before the second round of voting, making Tarawneh the new Speaker of the House.[18] Srour lost his seat in the House of Representatives in the 2016 Jordanian general election.[19]

On 4 February 2019 Srour was named adviser for tribal affairs to King Abdullah II of Jordan.[20]

Political positions

Srour is seen as a conservative and a supporter of the monarchy of Jordan.[21] [22]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hānī Ḥūrānī. Who's who in the Jordanian Parliament, 2003-2007. 2004. Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center, UJRC. 978-9957-15-035-8. 169.
  2. Web site: Suleiman al-Khalidi . Jordan PM shuffles cabinet ahead of new parliament . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003211139/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jordan-government-1/jordan-pm-shuffles-cabinet-ahead-of-new-parliament-idUSTRE6AN3T820101124 . Reuters . 24 November 2010 . 3 October 2020.
  3. Web site: Saad Hayel Srour . https://web.archive.org/web/20170831174717/http://www.jordanpolitics.org/en/lower-house-member/52/saad-hayel-srour/2 . jordanpolitics.org . 31 August 2017.
  4. Web site: Guide to Political Life in Jordan 2007-2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003224506/https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/amman/05983.pdf . Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung . 2008 . 3 October 2020.
  5. Web site: List of Members of Jordan's New Cabinet With AM-Jordan-Government . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003223354/https://apnews.com/article/88609331a2edbf01ac8a7d75507e6058 . Associated Press . 2 January 1991 . 3 October 2020.
  6. Book: MEED.. 1991. Economic East Economic Digest, Limited. 13.
  7. Book: B. Hunter. The Statesman's Year-Book 1993-94. 23 December 2016. Springer. 978-0-230-27122-7. 838.
  8. Web site: Jordanian House of Representatives - Political Figures and Major Events of the Councils of Representatives. 7 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120407010047/http://www.representatives.jo/english/history.shtm. 2012-04-07.
  9. Web site: Srour elected Lower House speaker . The Jordan Times . 10 February 2013 . 17 October 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131023032340/http://jordantimes.com/srour-elected-lower-house-speaker . 23 October 2013 .
  10. Web site: Jordanie Saad Hayel Srour élu à la tête de la Chambre des députés . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003215637/https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/450381/Jordanie__Saad_Hayel_Srour_elu_a_la_tete__de_la_Chambre_des_deputes.html . fr . L'Orient-Le Jour . 17 July 2003 . 3 October 2020.
  11. Web site: Betsy Fisher . Jordan: Reactions to a New Government . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003211552/https://globalvoices.org/2010/11/26/jordan-reactions-to-a-new-government/ . Global Voices . 26 November 2010 . 3 October 2020.
  12. Web site: Jordanië . https://web.archive.org/web/20131017212242/http://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/id/vgaxlcr1jzjx/jordanie?start_008_0ba=5 . Montesquieu Instituut . 9 November 2010 . 17 October 2013.
  13. Web site: Royal Decree endorses new government . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003210613/https://kingabdullah.jo/en/news/royal-decree-endorses-new-government . kingabdullah.jo . 24 November 2010 . 3 October 2020.
  14. Web site: Bakhit's Gov't Takes Oath . https://web.archive.org/web/20110212145351/http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleno=11529 . Ammon News . 9 February 2011 . 12 February 2011.
  15. Web site: Ethan Bronner . Protests Spur Shuffle of Jordan Cabinet . https://web.archive.org/web/20120308081854/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/world/middleeast/03jordan.html . The New York Times . 2 July 2011 . 8 March 2012.
  16. Web site: Jordan's Cabinet gets reshuffled amid PM scandal . https://web.archive.org/web/20131017202737/http://newsok.com/jordans-cabinet-gets-reshuffled-amid-pm-scandal/article/feed/273084 . NewsOK . 2 July 2011 . 17 October 2013.
  17. Web site: Khaled Neimat . 'House speaker race narrows down to Srour, Tarawneh' . https://web.archive.org/web/20131102153451/http://jordantimes.com/house-speaker-race-narrows-down-to-srour-tarawneh . The Jordan Times . 30 October 2013 . 2 November 2013.
  18. Web site: Atef Tarawneh elected Lower House speaker . https://web.archive.org/web/20131108230933/http://jordantimes.com/atef-tarawneh-elected-lower-house-speaker . The Jordan Times . 3 November 2013 . 8 November 2013.
  19. Web site: Omar Obeidat . New Lower House includes 74 new faces . https://web.archive.org/web/20180927035423/https://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/new-lower-house-includes-74-new-faces . The Jordan Times . 24 September 2016 . 27 September 2018.
  20. Web site: Royal Decree appoints Srour as adviser to His Majesty for tribal affairs . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003181754/https://kingabdullah.jo/en/news/royal-decree-appoints-srour-adviser-his-majesty-tribal-affairs . kingabdullah.jo . 4 February 2019 . 3 October 2020.
  21. Book: Benjamin Schuetze. Promoting Democracy, Reinforcing Authoritarianism: US and European Policy in Jordan. 7 November 2019. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-108-49338-3. 90.
  22. Book: Curtis R. Ryan. Jordan and the Arab Uprisings: Regime Survival and Politics Beyond the State. 26 June 2018. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-54656-0. 177.