By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The Jordanian Coalition for Civil Society Organisations announced on Tuesday it would drop a plan to monitor parliamentary elections, citing “crippling” government restrictions.

“How do you expect us to report on the credibility of elections when civil groups are not permitted to observe vote casting and ballot counting?” asked Samih Sunukrut, secretary general of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights, one of the 15 members of the coalition.

He said during a press conference that the coalition wants to have full access to polling places to be able to verify the credibility of the voting process. Limited access granted by the government would render their efforts futile, he said.

Members of the coalition include the Amman Centre for Human Rights, Arab Women’s Centre, the Young Jordanians Association, Amnesty International, the Jordan Society for Human Rights, the Ruseifa Group and others.

“The government insists that our role is restricted to following up on the polls, not proper observation, which means our teams will have no access to polling centres. We cannot be involved in the process under the circumstances,” said a statement distributed to reporters during the presser.

The group said it had gathered a team of 250 activists from across the Kingdom and had trained them on poll monitoring, but their services are no longer required.

It is not yet clear if other civil groups outside the coalition will monitor the elections or follow suit.

Government officials and the people in charge of the government-funded National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) were not available for comment. The centre was supposed to supervise the NGOs’ work.

Last month, the government said it would allow local NGOs to monitor the polls, but did not give details about the manner in which the process would be conducted.

Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said civil societies and political organisations will be allowed to monitor the elections in coordination with the NCHR.

“The government will allow NGOs to visit ballot centres and get acquainted with government procedures,” Bakhit said during an interview with Jordan Television.

The government announced that it has undertaken several measures to try to “guarantee fair and free elections”.

Minister of Interior Eid Fayez has said the ministry has connected all polling centres to a computer network to monitor the elections, speed up voting and prevent violations.

Voter IDs will also be marked after a person casts his or her vote in order to prevent multiple voting.

Activists say observers help promote confidence and participation in the process by reassuring the public that its citizens are interested, engaged and watching.