Talal al-Sharif

Talal al-Sharif is a Jordanian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives for the First District of Amman Governorate and was chosen in the Jordanian general election of January 2013, receiving 2,814 votes in the District. He was expelled from the House of Representatives on 10 September 2013 after shooting an AK-47 on the premises of the House of Representatives, following an argument with another Representative.

Armed incident

During a House meeting on 10 September 2013 al-Sharif had a dispute with fellow Representative Qusai Dmeisi (alternatively spelled Qusay al-Damissi). While the men were shaking hands to resolve the dispute Dmeisi slapped al-Sharif. Al-Sharif then went to his car and collected an AK-47 assault rifle with which he proceeded to try and enter the chamber of Representatives to shoot Dmeisi, but he was stopped by guards. He then proceeded to fire at least two shots in the hallway, leaving Dmeisi unhurt. He was eventually disarmed by the guards and detained. For the duration of the investigation into the charges al-Sharif was sent to al-Jouaida prison for fourteen days. Mohammad Barayseh, a fellow Representative from the First District of Amman Governorate, visited al-Sharif in jail and found him to be in bad condition and regretting his actions. With the incident in mind, the House of Representatives adopted a stronger set of rules of procedure one week after the incident. Under the new rules "acts of serious harm to the Chamber" by a Representative could be punished more severely, including dismissal and suspending the membership. A by-election to fill al-Sharif's seat was announced. The next day he was released due to lack of evidence. A by-election, won by Haitham Abu Khadija, was held to fill al-Sharif's seat in the House of Representatives on 9 November. On 12 November, it was reported that al-Sharif went on a hunger strike to protest against delays in his trial. He was granted bail on 21 November.

Similar incidents

The incident followed earlier incidents of parliamentarians reaching for guns. Al-Sharif's incident was however the first in which a gun was fired at the premises. A fellow Representative said that the shooting harmed Jordan's reputation.