Jordanians Elect New Parliament in Cautious Reform Move
Jordanians were voting on Tuesday for a new parliament under
revised rules meant to strengthen political parties — an election seen as a
small step toward democratic reform.
Jordan's veteran opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood,
competed for the first time in almost a decade, after boycotting two previous
elections because of a "one man, one vote" system it said favored
King Abdullah II's traditional tribal supporters.
Voting in the pro-Western monarchy comes at a time of growing
conflict in the region, highlighting Jordan's efforts to portray itself as an
island of stability despite external and internal threats by Islamic extremists.
More than 4 million Jordanians were eligible to vote for a
130-member parliament, with 15 seats reserved for women, nine for Christians
and three for minority Chechens and Circassians. By 11 a.m., about 345,000
voters had cast their ballots.
Voter Nour al-Ghwairi, 44, said she hoped the new parliament would
tackle Jordan's mounting economic difficulties.
"The country suffers from unemployment and other
problems," she said after casting her ballot at a school in the Jabal
Hussein neighborhood of the capital of Amman.
Analysts said electoral reforms have fallen short and are unlikely
to lead to significant change. They said they expect the new parliament to be
similar to the outgoing one — largely made up of individuals with competing
narrow interests.
Under new voting rules, voters chose candidates from lists in 23
electoral districts. In all, 1,252 candidates are running on 226 lists.
Only six percent of the lists are affiliated with a specific
political party, 11 percent have some party representatives, 39 percent are
independent and 43 percent are based on tribal affiliations, according to the
International Republican Institute, a U.S.-based non-partisan group that seeks
to promote democracy.
"While there might be some consolidation compared to previous
parliaments, you are still going to see a parliament of individuals," said
Ramsey Day, the IRI's Jordan director. He said this is "somewhat
inconsistent" with what has been cited as the ultimate goal of democratic
reforms, a government formed by parliament.
"While this (election) might take a step forward toward that,
it's quite a small step," he said.
The most organized party is the Islamic Action Front, the
political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, a veteran opposition movement linked
to the regional organization of the same name.
In Jordan, ideological arguments had split the group into rival
factions, with one of the breakaways recognized by the government as the
official Brotherhood.
The IAF said the group expects to win at least one-fourth of the
seats and plans to serve as a vocal opposition.
Zaki Bani Ersheid, a senior Brotherhood official, said Tuesday
that he believes a strong showing for the movement would increase
"confidence in the legislative institution, and confidence between the
people and the government."
The IAF couldn't afford boycotting this election, despite
continued misgivings about procedures, said analyst Ayoub al-Nmour from the
election monitoring group Al-Hayat.
"Boycotting for so long caused them to lose a lot of their
weight" in Jordanian politics, he said.
- 20 September 2016
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