AMMAN, JIB - King Abdullah issued a decree on Sunday dissolving Parliament.

Another decree ordered that parliamentary elections be held.

"We, Abdullah II Ben Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in pursuance of Paragraph 1 of Article 34 of the Constitution, order that elections of the House of deputies be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the law," the decree read.

Although no date has been set so far for the elections, they are expected to be held in November.

The House's term ended in March, but it was reconvened for an extraordinary session to examine and endorse key laws as part of a political reform package.

The 14th Parliament's first ordinary session began in December 2003 and ended on March 29 this year. In the Speech from the Throne, King Abdullah emphasised that voters wanted their deputies to tackle major issues like poverty, unemployment and corruption as top priorities and most urgent challenges.

During the course of the 14th session of Parliament, the Lower House endorsed around 255 laws.

Key legislation pieces included the Anti-Terrorism, Political Parties, Access to Information, Nuclear Energy and Safety and Protection from Nuclear Radiation, Municipalities, and Press and Publications laws.

The anti-terrorism bill was introduced following the November 2005 triple suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, which left 90 dead.

The bill contains measures to identify, prosecute and convict terrorists and arms law enforcement and security agencies with powers to gather intelligence and prosecute suspected terrorists, including placing individuals under tight surveillance, seizing financial assets and barring them from travel.

The bill has come under heavy criticism from local and international human rights organisations.

The Political Parties and Press and Publications laws were endorsed in March this year.

The legislation governing political parties increased the minimum number of founding members of a political party from 50 to 500, sparking a great deal of controversy.

Under this legislation, members must also be drawn from at least five of the country's 12 governorates, with a minimum of 10 per cent from each governorate.

While discussing the Press and Publications Law, the lawmakers agreed to scrap a clause in the old law allowing the imprisonment of journalists for charges related to their work.

Moreover, the Lower House approved the Anti-Money Laundering bill on May 6, after removing certain paragraphs relating to terrorism funding on the basis that they are included in recently passed anti-terror legislation

Money laundering crimes, defined under the law, include arms smuggling and the manufacture, trafficking, cultivation, sale, smuggling and export of drugs.

Other crimes covered by the law include human trafficking, customs evasion and various categories of fraud, as well as crimes related to promoting prostitution and sexual abuse.

The upcoming elections are the second to be held during the reign of King Abdullah.