Jordan - Election 2007
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Abdullah II bin Hussein with a population of approximately 5.9 million. The constitution concentrates executive and legislative authority in the king. The parliament consists of the 55-member House of Notables (Majlis al-Ayan), appointed by the king, and a 110-member elected lower house, the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwwab). On November 20, nationwide multiparty parliamentary elections were held, which by and large went smoothly; however, local observers alleged some irregularities. Authorities generally maintained effective control over the security forces, although there were some instances in which domestic and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) accused members of the police and security forces of committing human rights abuses.
While the government respected human rights in some areas, its overall record continued to reflect problems. The government restricted citizens' right to change their government. Domestic and international NGOs reported torture, arbitrary arrest, and prolonged detention. Impunity, denial of due process of law, and limited judicial independence remained problems. Infringements on citizens' privacy rights continued. The government harassed members of opposition political parties and restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, movement, and some religious practices. Legal and societal discrimination existed against women and persons of Palestinian origin. Restrictions on labor rights and abuse of foreign workers remained problems.
The law does not provide citizens the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens may participate in the political system through their elected representatives in parliament; however, the king may use his discretion to appoint and dismiss the prime minister, cabinet, and upper house of parliament; dissolve or extend parliament; and establish public policy. The prime minister appoints the mayors of the capital Amman, Wadi Musa (Petra) and Aqaba, a special economic zone. The mayors of the other 93 municipalities are elected.
After appointment by the king, a prime minister is required to submit his cabinet to a parliamentary vote of confidence, if there is a seated parliament. Executive power is vested in the king (or, in his absence, the regent), who exercises his power through his ministers in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
The king proposes and dismisses extraordinary sessions of parliament and may postpone regular sessions for up to 60 days. If the government amends or enacts a law when parliament is not in session, it must submit the law to parliament for consideration during the next session; however, such "provisional" laws do not expire and, while technically subject to action by parliament when it returns to session, in practice remain in force without legislative approval.
On 28 March 2007 King Abdullah II issued a royal decree dissolving parliament ahead of legislative elections to the House of Representatives. The Government subsequently set the date of elections as 20 November. In the previous elections held in June 2003 supporters of the King reportedly won two-thirds of the 110 seats in the House of Representatives. The Islamic Action Front (IAF political arm of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood) won 17 seats.
The IAF boycotted the July 2007 municipal elections alleging election fraud. In subsequent contacts with leaders of the IAF's centrist faction Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit reportedly gave assurances that elections would be free and transparent in return for a promise to remove extremists from the IAF electoral lists. However the Prime Minister publicly rejected the IAF's demand to invite international observers arguing that this would suggest that Jordanian electoral law was flawed.
In all 880 candidates including a record 199 women (up from 54 in the 2003 elections) contested the 2007 elections. The IAF fielded only 22 candidates (down from over 30 in 2003). Most female candidates ran as independents promising to strive for women's basic rights including the freedom to work. The outgoing legislature had six women who all were elected under reserved seats. Most supporters of the King ran as independents. Many of them promised to improve economic conditions by fighting poverty and unemployment.
The media focused on the chances of the IAF winning more seats than in 2003. The party was seen to be losing ground. The IAF ran under the slogan Islam is the solution . It pledged to support people in Iraq and to amend the Constitution and the electoral law without elaborating on the changes to be made. Its proposals on unemployment and poverty were reportedly similar to those of pro-monarchy candidates. Support for Iraqi and Palestinian peoples was also a common theme among other opposition forces.
A total of 54 per cent of the 2.4 million registered voters turned out at the polls. The final results gave a majority to parties and candidates allied to the King while the IAF took only six seats. One woman was elected in addition to the six seats reserved for women. IAF leader Mr. Jamil Abu-Bakr alleged election fraud including vote-buying which the government denied. Following the elections 17 people were arrested for tampering with the election process.
The government routinely licensed political parties and other associations but prohibited membership in unlicensed political parties. During the year there were 35 licensed political parties. On March 31, parliament passed the Political Parties Law, which, in an effort to consolidate political parties, stipulated a minimum of 500 founding members from five governorates. Existing parties have until April 2008 to meet these criteria or lose their licenses. The government may deny licenses to parties that it decides do not meet the political and other criteria contained in the law. The High Court of Justice may dissolve a party if it violates the constitution or the law.
The election law significantly underrepresented urban areas. For instance, Amman's second district has more than 200,000 constituents and was granted four representatives, while Karak's sixth district has approximately 7,000 constituents and was granted three representatives. Analysts considered electoral districting unfair, claiming that it was intended to reduce the representation of areas heavily populated by citizens of Palestinian origin and because of a lack of balance between the population and the number of seats per district. The law allows voters to choose one candidate in multiple-seat districts. In the largely tribal society, citizens tended to cast their vote for extended family members.
Citizens of Palestinian origin, estimated to be more than half of the total population, comprised five of the 28 ministers in the Nader Dahabi government sworn in on November 25. In parliament, 10 of 55 senators and 16 of 110 lower house deputies were of Palestinian origin. There were no Palestinian-origin leaders in any of the country's 12 governorships, nor any Palestinian-origin secretaries general in any of the ministries.
The election law requires judiciary verification of polling results, and establishes the number of lower house seats at 110, with six reserved for women, nine for Christians, and three for either the Circassian or Chechen ethnic minorities. The voting age is set at 18 years for all citizens. Citizens may freely nominate themselves and register as candidates if they have a "certificate of good conduct" issued by the GID. Persons who have been sentenced to more than one year in prison are ineligible for election.
On 22 November King Abdullah II named Mr. Nader Dahabi as the new Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. He subsequently formed a 28-member cabinet including four women which was approved by a royal decree on 25 November.
On 2 December the newly-elected House of Representatives held a preliminary session that re-elected Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Majali as its Speaker. In the meantime on 29 November King Abdullah II had appointed 55 senators including seven women. Mr. Zaid Al-Rifai was re-appointed as Senate President by Royal Decree. King Abdullah II officially inaugurated the parliament on 3 December.
The kingdom held its first municipal elections in July 2007, in which voters picked mayors and council members in all regions apart from Amman. The king retained his authority to make municipal appointments in the capital. Jordan's main opposition party, the Islamist Action Front, boycotted the vote, accusing the government of fraud. Parliamentary elections were held in November 2007. The Islamist opposition lost many of the seats it had gained in 2003. The NCHR, the opposition IAF, and other local observers alleged a number of irregularities, including vote buying, multiple voting, transfer of votes, and exploiting armed forces personnel to vote en masse for progovernment candidates. There were no local or international observers present for the municipal elections, and a limited number of local observers for the parliamentary elections.
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