Former ministers, MP debate Decentralisation Law

AMMAN — Although it is too late to suggest any amendments to the Decentralisation Law, which has already entered into force, procedural matters related to the elections can be modified until the end of this year, a government official said on Thursday.

Baker Abbadi, the secretary general of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, said preparations are under way to conduct governorate council and municipal elections in the second half of 2017.

He noted that the distribution of seats for each governorate is based on several indicators, which include the size of each area and its population.

Of the total 270 seats, 15 per cent will be allocated to women, with 5 per cent of them in the government lists of appointees and 10 per cent as a quota in the elected seats.

According to Abbadi, allocations for these councils will be added to the 2018 state budget, without elaborating on how the 2017 budget would address these councils’ financial allocations.

Abbadi’s remarks came during a conference on “Decentralisation in Jordan in Light of the 2017 Elections” organised by the German organisation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Speaking in one of the conference’s panels, former deputy Jamil Nimri said that although there is a consensus on the need to adopt the concept of decentralisation in Jordan, the law itself is “not perfect” and does not explain the jurisdiction of the governorate councils.

He added that there should a plan to educate members of the elected councils on their role, as it is not clear in the law and the “internal by-laws” drafted for that purpose.

But Shihadeh Abu Hdeib, the former minister of municipal affairs, agreed with Nimri that despite the shortcomings in the law, decentralisation is needed in Jordan if implemented correctly.

However, former interior minister Mazen Saket expressed his concern that the 12 councils that would be elected based on the Decentralisation Law might only serve wasta — using personal connections to obtain favours or posts — and weaken the state.

He noted that despite the long history of parliamentary life in Jordan, the Lower House is still weak, and there is fear that the governorate councils will not be any better.