(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A week after appointing a new government to replace one he deemed too slow to act on reforms, the king approved Monday an Independent Elections Commission to oversee the polls, headed by former U.N. special envoy to Libya and career diplomat, Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib.
“Jordan has a historic opportunity to determine its future this year,” the king told lower house deputies, urging them to work with the government on laws governing political parties, elections and a constitutional court.
“All these efforts will be meaningless if they do not result in holding fair and transparent parliamentary elections before the end of this year,” a palace statement quoted him as saying.
Jordanian officials insist the king is “determined and very serious” about reforms, but others, including the influential opposition Islamists, charge that steps taken to introduce political changes are still “marginal.”
Jordan’s parliament Wednesday passed a law to encourage an effective multiparty political system, a key reform measure. It would allow parties to compete in elections based on political platforms.
Under the present system, Jordan has 33 fragmented political parties. The government wants to merge them into several core coalitions.
Officials have floated the concept that Jordan could eventually have two or three main parties, and the party winning a majority of seats in parliament would form a Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the electoral law remains a major issue of debate in parliament.
Under the proposed law, voters can cast three ballots: two for individual candidates in their governorates and one for a party or coalition nationwide, in line with a proportional representation system.
It scraps a contested one-person-one-vote system and increases the number of seats in parliament to 138 from 120, including an expanded quota system for women from 12 to 15.
However, only 15 seats can be contested by candidates representing political parties – the remainder are reserved for independents.
The opposition has harshly criticized the system, under which the country’s 23 political parties can only field five candidates each to compete for the 15 seats.
The Islamists, trade unions and media have repeatedly attacked the one-person-one-vote system first adopted in 1993, which they say produces loyalist MPs who do not represent the people.
Analysts and Islamists also say that the new government under the leadership of the new premier, Fayez Tarawneh, who replaced Awn Khasawneh, an International Criminal Court judge, is too “conservative.
Khasawneh was the third prime minister to be appointed in 2011, which, according to Abu Hanieh, indicates “political instability.”
The country has seen relatively small but persistent Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations almost every week since January 2011 to demand sweeping reforms.
/106
