Amman, Safar 7, 1438, Nov 7, 2016, SPA -- Deputy Atef Tarawneh was elected on Monday by his peers as the Lower House speaker in a vote that followed the opening of the legislature's ordinary session. Tarawneh won 69 votes during the balloting, well ahead of his closest contender, Abdul Karim Dughmi, who secured 34 votes and Abdullah Al Akayleh who won 21 votes. A total of 129 deputies, out of 130 participated in the vote; 4 ballots were cancelled, while 1 was found blank. --SPA 19:24 LOCAL TIME 16:24 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w