Mahmoud Kharabsheh (also spelled Mahmud al-Kharabsha) (; born 1951) is a Jordanian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the

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

in the 12th through 17th parliaments. He served multiple terms as Head of House Legal Committee. He served as Minister of State in

Bisher Al-Khasawneh Bisher Khasawneh (; born 27 January 1969) is a Jordanian politician and diplomat who served as the 43rd Prime Minister of Jordan and Minister of Defence from 12 October 2020 to 15 September 2024. Khasawneh was an ambassador of Jordan to Egypt, F ...

's government between 12 October 2020 and 11 October 2021, from 7 March 2021 he held the charge of Minister of State of Legal Affairs.

Political career

In 1999 he opposed amending Article 340 of the law, which lessened the punishment or exonerated those who killed family members for harming

family honor Family honor (or honour) is an abstract concept involving the perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects the social standing and the self-evaluation of a group of related people, both corporately and individually. The family ...

. In October 2007, he once more said that it will take a long time for Jordanian society to change its attitude towards honour killings. While in his position of Head of House Legal Committee in early 2000, Kharabsheh accused Issam al-Rawabdeh, the son of Jordanian Prime Minister

Abdelraouf al-Rawabdeh Abdelraouf Salem Nahar al-Rawabdeh (; born 18 February 1939) is a Jordanian retired politician who served as the 32nd Prime Minister of Jordan from 4 March 1999 until 19 June 2000, a leading political figure from the northern city of Irbid in Jor ...

, of corruption. After the charges al-Rawabdeh shuffled his cabinet, the move was seen as a way to lessen criticism against himself. After a new parliament was elected in 2003, several temporary laws were up for review. Two of those were related to women's rights: Article 340 called for the same reduction of punishment for women as perpetrator in

honour killings An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

, and the Khuloe law gave women the right to file for divorce without giving a reason in return for her wedding dowry. Kharabsheh said he would vote against the Khuloe law as he saw it to be in contradiction of the

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law. He also said that "women would destroy the family if divorce was in their hands". In June 2009 he called for the resignation of Omar Rimawi, President of Al-Balqa` Applied University, for his involvement in financial and administrative corruption. Shortly thereafter Mahmud's nephew Atef al-Kharabsha was appointed as advisor to Rimawi. In January 2012 Kharabsheh was against

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

as a source for Jordan's energy. He cited high costs and lower than expected uranium supplies as the main problems for the construction of a nuclear energy plant. In March 2012 he claimed that the proposed Jordans 2012 Passports Law violated the

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. Its aim is to facilitate "the development of friendly relations" among government ...

. As a consequence of the law, both current and former Prime Ministers, Ministers, Representatives, Senators and other high-ranking officials were entitled to diplomatic passports. Kharabsheh, as Head of the House Legal Committee voted against the amendments together with one other representative. The other seven members of the Committee voted for the changes. By April 2012 in his position as Head of House Legal Committee Kharabsheh declared that the House of Representatives had full powers to change the elections bill related to the 2013 Jordanian elections. After the January 2013 election, he stood candidate as Speaker of the House of Representatives, however, he was eliminated in the first round of voting after receiving 5 of the 150 available votes.

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 ...

won the election in the second round. In November 2017 Kharabsheh was present at a group interview on sexual harassment for

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

and clashed with the moderator after questioning the authenticity of a woman speaking of her experiences. Kharabsheh left the interview. He subsequently stated he would sue Deutsche Welle for contempt of Jordan.

Minister

On 12 October 2020 he was appointed as Minister of State in

's government. Due to Kharabsheh having been tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

he was not sworn in with the rest of the cabinet. In a cabinet reshuffle on 7 March 2021 he became Minister of State of Legal Affairs. In October 2021 he announced that the cabinet had no plans to decriminalize

lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...

after the king ordered a special pardon in some cases of lèse-majesté. His term ended on 11 October 2021 and he was succeeded by

Wafaa Bani Mustafa Wafaa Saed Bani Mustafa (born 1979) is the Jordanian Minister of Social Development. She was appointed as minister on 27 October 2022. Previously she had served as Minister of State for Legal Affairs from 11 October 2021 until 27 October 2022. ...

Post-minister

In January 2022 he criticized those introducing amendments to the

Constitution of Jordan The Constitution of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was adopted on 1 January 1952. It revised the previous Constitution of 1947 to expand the powers of the legislature and add checks to the executive power of the cabinet. The Constitution defi ...

as: "they are playing with the constitution".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharabsheh, Mahmoud 1951 births Living people 20th-century Jordanian lawyers Members of the House of Representatives (Jordan) State ministers of Jordan COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan Kharabsheh Kharabsheh