It was announced here on Sunday that the Jordanian Lower House of Parliament elected Saad Hayel Srour as speaker of the house, earning 80 votes in his favor against 62 for his rival Mohammad Al Haj during the voting process that saw participation of 146 MPs. Srour had previously won the runoff election as no candidate could win the race in the first round; with 50 votes for Srour against 54 for Al-Haj, 36 for Mustafa Shinkat, and 5 for Mahmoud Al-Kharabsha. According to Jordanian lower house' statute, the speakership should be won by whoever acquires absolute majority of MPs, while runoff election occurs between only two candidates who get the highest number of votes.