Jordan - Election 2013
In late April 2012, King Abdullah appointed a new prime minister, Fayez Tarawneh, and tasked him with implementing a new electoral law in time for a parliamentary poll later in the year. On October 05, 2012 The Muslim Brotherhood led more than 15,000 chanting protesters through central Amman after Friday prayers demanding an end to corruption and far-reaching political reforms to give Jordanian voters a bigger role in shaping the country’s future. The number of marchers was well below the 50,000 organizers had predicted, but the event took place without a major security problem. A group supporting King Abdullah had planned a march at the same time, but decided to call it off to avoid possible violence.
The January 2013 Chamber of Deputies elections in Jordan was the first parliamentary elections administered under the authority of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which was established in 2012. As a new institution, the IEC faced key challenges in implementing a host of procedures to enable effective administration of the election. The IEC’s noteworthy list of initiatives includes updating the voter registration process; creating new accommodations for illiterate voters and voters with disabilities; and training polling staff.
On 21 January 2013 Jordanians voted for a new parliament, and foreign election observers reported seeing minor violations, such as campaigning at the polling stations, but overall the process appeared to go smoothly. More than 1,400 candidates are competing for 108 individual seats and 27 reserved for candidates from national party lists. An additional 15 seats are reserved for female politicians. But the influential Muslim Brotherhood boycotted the vote, casting doubt on how influential the body will be. The brotherhood's political wing, the Islamic Action Front, had been at the front of calls for reform in the kingdom at a time of growing calls for reform. The Islamic Action Front objected to the emphasis on individual races rather than party lists, a system that favors tribal and rural connections, often pro-government, over the more urban base of the brotherhood. But the Brotherhood also saw little potential for democratic change in a country where the king ultimately holds all power.
On 31 March 2013 a reformist government, the smallest in four decades, was sworn in by King Abdullah. The new government is led by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, who has merged several portfolios in an attempt to cut spending. Ensour, who was interim prime minister before January’s elections, ended fuel subsidies at the end of 2012 - a move that triggered protests across the country. This was the first time King Abdullah consulted the parliament over the cabinet's composition, after constitutional changes prompted by the Arab Spring. Jordan is trying hard to curb the impact of rising fuel import costs and high social spending intended to prevent an uprising similar to those seen in neighboring Arab states. In 2013, Jordan faced a $3 billion deficit, and the country hopes to cut it by about a third. Jordan was told by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to abolish the subsidies in order to qualify for a $2 billion loan.
A survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI) conducted in June 2016 found that 87 percent of Jordanians believed the most recent parliament had accomplished nothing worthy of commendation, while only 29 percent considered the legislative branch to be effective. More than half of the respondents said they were unlikely to vote. Parliament is a form of theater, and people know this. It cannot choose the government, cannot originate legislation, and although it can amend it, this power is meaningless since the senate can amend its amendments, and the king can also veto.
Jordan made significant changes to its electoral law in 2016, replacing a controversial one-person-one-vote system with a list-based system designed to encourage political parties. The new electoral law may help revive the political system. It requires voters to pick from among pre-set lists of candidates - a system that could encourage stronger organising between candidates on ideological or party-based grounds. As a result, key opposition groups that previously boycotted the election, including the Muslim Brotherhood, came back to electoral politics. It was a major development at a time when regional wars, an ever-growing refugee crisis and a struggling economy have all converged to threaten Jordan's stability. Of 1,293 candidates competing for 130 seats in Jordan's parliament, 82 percent were non-partisan. The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist parties, while making a strong showing, were fractured into smaller groups.
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