Atef Tarawneh (born 1 January 1954) is a Jordanian politician who has been the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of Jordan's

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 3 November 2013 to 10 December 2020. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2020.

Early life

Tarawneh was born in Khalidiyah,

Karak Governorate Karak ( ar, الكرك) is one of the governorates of Jordan, located south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital. Its capital is Al-Karak. It s bordered by Madaba and the Capital governorates to the north, Ma'an Governorate to the east, Tafilah Governo ...

in 1954. He went to primary school in Khalidiyah and Moab. He followed his secondary education in

Al-Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...

. He studied civil engineering in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. From 1981 to 1983 he worked as an engineer in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Tarawneh then returned to Jordan and worked as engineering director of the municipalities of

Ma'an Ma'an ( ar, مَعان, Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed ...

Zarqa Zarqa ( ar, الزرقاء) is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It had a population of 635,160 inhabitants in 2015, and is the most populous city in Jordan after Amman. Geography Zarqa is located in t ...

and Balqa before having that position in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

from 1984 to 1994. Tarawneh then turned to private business.

Political career

Tarawneh was first elected in the 2003 Jordanian general election. He was subsequently part of the 14th, 15th, and 16th Parliaments, serving in the House of Representatives. He also served as Deputy Speaker of the House at one point. In February 2011, while he was Deputy Speaker, he criticized the government's decision to strip Jordanian citizenship from some Jordanians with Palestinian origin on claims that it supported the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

and their goal of a state. The idea behind the government policy was said to be to protect the Palestinian identity. Tarawneh revealed that several high-ranking Palestinian leaders and negotiators had received Jordanian citizenship during the same period. He claimed that the policy was contradictory and that it undermined national unity. Tarawneh led the party Nation List in the Jordanian general election in 2013. The list comprised native Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian descent. The list, referred to as Watan or Homeland, received 94682 votes in the election and thereby earned two seats, which went to Tarawneh and

Khamis Atiyeh Khamis ar, خميس the 5th day in Arabic known as Thursday. It may refer to: *Khamis (name) *Khamis, Bahrain, a place in Bahrain *Khamis Brigade, special forces brigade of the military of Libya *Khamis Mushait Khamis Mushayt or Khamis Mushait ( ...

. Tarawneh ran in the November 2013 Speaker elections, which were held at the start of the regular session of the 17th parliament. On 20 October, out of a total of six candidates, his main competitor was seen as incumbent Speaker

Saad Hayel Srour 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 ...

. Tarawneh had the support of his Homeland bloc in parliament, consisting of 20 Representatives, and he could count on another 39 votes by forming a coalition with two other blocs. On 3 November the first round of voting started, with only three candidates remaining. Tarawneh gained 60 votes,

Abdul Karim Dughmi Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

gained 43 votes and Srour gained 37 votes. In the second round Tarawneh was to compete against Dughmi, Dughmi however withdrew his candidacy just before the start of the voting. Tarawneh was therefore declared winner. He was re-elected as Speaker on 2 November 2014. And once more on 15 November 2015. His fourth re-election took place on 7 November 2016. On 14 October 2018 he was re-elected for a fifth term. In June 2020 two of his brothers were being investigated for abuse of power and corruption charges. Tarawneh subsequently stated that the government was targeting him and his family. 85 members of the House condemned Tarawneh's statement.

Personal life

He is married and has four children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarawneh, Atef 1954 births Living people People from Karak Governorate Members of the House of Representatives (Jordan) Speakers of the House of Representatives (Jordan)