Why many Jordanians have little stomach for upcoming elections
Distrust toward parliament, stemming from electoral fraud and doing nothing about the struggling economy, has generated Jordanian apathy toward parliamentary elections in September.
AMMAN, Jordan — An astounding 87% of Jordanians said their parliament had not made even one praiseworthy accomplishment during the 2013-16 term, according to an April poll conducted by the International Republican Institute. Faced with such public skepticism, the Jordanian government is campaigning to increase voter turnout for the country's most important elections, to be held in two months.
The Independent Election Commission has launched a new website in Arabic and in English and has taken to the streets to explain the voting list system enacted in March in a new election law that did away with the previous one-person, one-vote system. “The King, the government and the Independent Election Committee have done all that is possible to prepare the groundwork for the new elections,” said a June 12 editorial in the Jordan Times. Nonetheless, with the Sept. 20 contest approaching, former Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher told Al-Monitor, “There is a noticeable indifference toward the elections.”
The parliament’s May 2 ratification of constitutional amendments was a worrying development for citizens who want an independent legislative branch. The new amendments gave the king absolute power to appoint the head of the paramilitary police force, members of the constitutional court and the crown prince. Before the May 2 decision, the king required the prime minister and certain ministers to recommend these critical nominees.
The changes were passed overwhelmingly in only about two weeks by 123 members of parliament out of 142 who attended the session, and with little public debate. Rana Sabbagh, the director of the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and former editor-in-chief of the Jordan Times, told Al-Monitor that many Jordanians view parliament as being a “rubber stamp” for the king’s policies and not operating as a strong independent body monitoring the executive branch. “Jordanians don’t believe that this parliament is actually stopping wrongdoing in the system,” she said.
