‘Unique parliamentary experience’

By the time this article is printed a new parliament will have been elected in Jordan. It will be the 18th elected House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) since the adoption of the bi-cameral parliamentary system under the Constitution of 1952, but elections in Jordan did not start in 1952.

Following the establishment of the Emirate of East Jordan in 1921, the Basic Law of 1928, which at the time had given the nascent Emirate the legitimacy to run the affairs of the country, also enacted a law to elect the first Legislative Council, and it was elected the following year.

Election of legislative councils continued uninterrupted until 1947, when the Emirate was proclaimed by the existing parliament, on May 25, 1946, the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan under King Abdullah I.

That was a critical moment in the Arab world as the question of Palestine was entering a dramatic phase. 

That year, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution partitioning Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews, a resolution judged by historians as both unjust and unjustified; the region continues till this very day to cope with its disastrous consequences.

The British government decided to end its mandate on Palestine on May 15, 1948, leaving the country to its destiny alone in the face of a well-planned, largely Western-supported, Zionist onslaught.

The new Hashemite Kingdom found itself right at the centre of one of the most complex crises of our age. 

Many Arab League member states’ regular armies, like from Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan, descended on Palestine to combat Jewish invaders. 

Other poorly armed irregular fighters from Sudan and Lebanon, as well as from the other Arab countries, also joined. But the outcome of that uneven combat was disastrous.

With the exception of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which were rescued from Jewish occupation by the Jordanian army, the rest of Palestine was taken by the Jewish forces. 

The narrow Gaza Strip was also saved by the Egyptian army, but most unfortunately, all the other Palestinian territories were lost.

As a result of that war, the state of Israel, declared on the very same day as the termination of the British mandate, on May 15, 1948, ended up in control of 78 per cent of the Palestinian territory, leaving about 22 per cent for the Palestinians.

In contrast, the UN partition resolution had earmarked 56 per cent of the Mandate Palestine for the Jews, although they were much fewer in number than the Arabs.

That war, which also resulted in the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of Palestinians, creating no less than 750,000 Palestinian refugees, ended by a series of UN-brokered armistice agreements with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Leaders of the remaining Palestinian territories appealed to King Abdullah I to unite the West Bank with Arab Jerusalem and include them in the Hashemite Kingdom. That was an imperative urgency as that land, with its people, was left without any kind of governing administration.

The unity of the two peoples was also seen as a natural return to normalcy.

In April 1951, unity between the two banks of the river Jordan was declared and officially endorsed by a newly elected parliament representing both the East and the West Bank of Jordan.

Since then, parliamentary elections continued to be held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the new name after the promulgation of the unity, every four years without interruption.

The process of democratisation was aptly maturing and despite successive crises and challenges, the country managed to make considerable strides towards progress and institution building.

As a result of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza during the June 1967 Israeli war on Egypt, Syria and Jordan, it was not possible to hold elections in Jordan while the West Bank was still under occupation.

The electoral process was temporarily interrupted in the hope that the occupation, ruled illegal by the Security Council that same year (UN Security Council Resolution 242, as well as many other UN resolutions), would end. 

The occupation continues until this very day.

In the 22 years that separated 1967, the year which marked the beginning of the suspension of general elections, and 1989, when general elections were resumed under a new Elections Law, and after the severance of administrative and legal ties with the West Bank, the Upper House of Parliament, the Senate, which is not elected, has continued to function in order to fill the parliamentary vacuum. 

Some intervals gave rise to another representative, though not elected body, the National Consultative Council.

While these makeshift arrangements were justifiable under the circumstances, they did not really satisfy the need for proper general elections, which were resumed in 1989.

This year’s elections are yet another positive step in the direction of ongoing political reform in a parliamentary process that continues to gather experience and attain incremental maturity.

Four million voters are eligible to head to the ballot boxes to elect 130 deputies from among 1,252 candidates.

Though tough, the competition reflects massive public engagement in the process; active democracy in perpetual motion, which can only enrich the Jordanian parliamentary experience.

Most candidates run as individuals, as the country does not have strong political parties with defined political programmes yet. But the only way to create such credible parties is to continue the practice and to bring the process gradually to fruition.

The Jordanian experience is unique in the sense that its political process is based on extraordinary consensus. 

As in every other democracy, Jordanians, evidently their representatives as well, disagree on a number of issues. One can see this clearly reflected in the media, in the two legislative chambers as well as among political leaders.

And again as in almost every other democracy, Jordanians are often critical of their governments’ handling of business. 

But when it comes to the country’s vital national interests, they drop their disagreements and rally behind their leadership and their national cause. 

This was an important factor that kept the country safe and secure despite being at the heart of a trouble-stricken region.

Although it is still too early to judge the new House formation, the newly elected parliament will certainly provide a positive contribution to the process.

After all, it marks more than six decades of credible and legitimate parliamentary practice.