Brawl Erupts in Jordan’s Parliament During Televised Debate on Gender Equality

A session of Jordan’s Parliament had to be adjourned after several lawmakers pushed and threw punches at their fellow members of parliament, and it all took place on a live-streamed televised debate on constitutional reforms, including gender equality. The subject that provoked the brawl was an amendment that would have added the female noun to the section of the constitution dealing with the guarantee of equal rights for all citizens. The punching started after one member of parliament refused to apologize for what Reuters called “unwarranted remarks”; some lawmakers reportedly called the amendment “useless.” Parliament speaker Abdelkarim al-Daghmi eventually walked out of the session, bringing it to a close. Debate was scheduled to pick up again on Wednesday.