'Municipal, governorate council polls slated for second half of 2017'

AMMAN — Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of State Musa Maaytah on Wednesday said the decentralisation project will have no impact on the independence of municipalities, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a workshop on "decentralisation and developing local administration", Maaytah stressed the government's keenness on receiving "any new and serious" suggestions related to the division of constituencies within the decentralisation project.

He said that the government plans to hold the elections for municipal and governorate councils in the second half of this year.

Maaytah said members of municipal and governorate councils will receive allowances rather than salaries and that the governorate councils will use the municipalities' offices. 

Note: A previous version of this story reported that the municipal and governorate council elections will be held in the second half of 2018. The Jordan News Agency, Petra, had misstated that the polls will be held "next year", when in fact they are expected to be held in the second half of this year, 2017.