‘Big win for Jordan’

While many countries in the region are being torn apart by wars and sectarian divisions, Jordan last week held parliamentary elections that international and local observers commended and considered fair and transparent.

Going to a polling station to cast one’s vote is normal by Jordanian and international standards, but for many people in this debilitated region it is a luxury compared to more pressing tasks, such as staying alive, keeping the roof above one’s head intact, finding a safe haven somewhere in or outside one’s country or securing a meal, even a meagre or inadequate one.

It is important to put things in this regional perspective to better assess the importance of the step Jordan successfully carried out last week.

The recent parliamentary elections are part and parcel of a continuous reform process that His Majesty King Abdullah started when he assumed his constitutional duties in 1999.

Elections took place on the basis of a new Elections Law, which hinges on an at-large voting system whereby candidates ran for elections on multi-member tickets, thus putting an end to the notorious one-person, one-vote electoral system that has been blamed for splintering political parties and reviving narrow allegiances and kinship ties.

The new law proved to be a step in the right direction because it forced political and social entities to create alliances and coalitions.

Unlike the aborted one-person, one-vote formula, the new electoral law made it almost compulsory for candidates to work together.

Multi-member tickets brought together an assortment of candidates who had no other option but to work together to formulate viable programmes that could responds to voters’ concerns and demands.

This is an important political exercise in teamwork and in building coalitions that will undoubtedly improve the local political environment.

The government, by testimony of even its most outspoken opponents, did not interfere in the electoral process. It did not have favourite candidates whom it wanted to see as winners in the elections no matter what.

It successfully abided by the King’s directives to stay away from the administration of the elections, only offering the logistical support requested by the Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Elections, furthermore, could not have been so successfully executed without the vigilant and professional role played by police and security personnel who made sure that citizens carry out their constitutional duty in a smooth, safe and organised fashion.

The IEC, on its part, managed to run the most transparent, smooth and organised elections in recent memory. People could not believe how easy it was to cast the vote on election day.

While some glitches occurred here and there, no observer or analyst said that these minor incidents came anywhere near spoiling the electoral process or blemishing its integrity.

The just-held parliamentary elections were also characterised by the strong participation of young people.

The new electoral law lowered the age of eligible voters to 17, thus adding thousands of young Jordanians to voters’ lists.

Close to 532,000 people between the ages of 17 to 30 actually cast their votes in these elections, many of them for the first time.

The inclusion of young people in the electoral process is particularly important in a country like Jordan, where almost 70 per cent of the population is less than 30 years old.

Women also scored high in the recent elections. Five women succeeded competitively for the first time in Jordan’s history.

Electing women based on their merit is a healthy sign of progress for the Jordanian society.

Fifteen more women will also take their seats in the upcoming Parliament based on the quota system.

Almost all national political parties took part in the elections in full force. Rightist, leftist and Islamist parties formed coalitions and strongly competed for votes.

Two hundred and sixteen people ran on party tickets and 27 of them won seats in the 18th Parliament.

The Islamic Action Front (or the illegal Muslim Brotherhood Movement) ended its boycott of the elections and created The Reform Coalition to run for Parliament.

This political movement abandoned for the first time its usual slogans, such as “Islam is the solution”, and created tickets that included Christian and pan-Arab candidates. 

It is hoped that this teamwork will not be abandoned by Muslim Brotherhood MPs once they reached Parliament.

The victory of the secular or “Citizenship” coalition in Amman’s 3rd District says a lot about the latent transformations of the Jordanian society away from political Islam towards new and previously unexplored political alternatives.

The success of the recent elections is a big tribute to Jordan’s stability and determination to push forward its reform process regardless of the regional turmoil.

The writer, [email protected], is a Jordanian political analyst, former government spokesperson and minister of media affairs. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.