The 2010 elections followed the early dissolution of the House of Representatives by King Abdullah II in November 2009. At stake were 120 seats in the enlarged House, up from 110.
In the previous elections held in November 2007, independents and tribal candidates loyal to the King took a majority of the 110 seats at stake while the country's largest opposition party - the Islamic Action Front (IAF, the political arm of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood) - saw its share of seats reduced from 17 to six.
The 2007 elections were held under the electoral law that provides for several multi-member constituencies, with voters able to choose only one candidate. The law attributed fewer seats to the constituencies in large cities where there are many citizens of Palestinian origin. Half of Jordan's 6 million inhabitants are either Palestinian or of Palestinian origin, mainly those who fled the West Bank in 1967 when Israel took over control of the territory.
The 2007 Political Parties Law stipulated that a political party must have a minimum of 500 founding members from five governorates. By April 2008, 24 of the 36 political parties in existence were dissolved (or became legally defunct). Twelve parties, including the IAF, successfully validated their status.
On 23 November 2009, King Abdullah II issued a royal decree, dissolving the House of Representatives with effect from the following day, two years earlier than the normal expiry of its term. The decree did not specify the reason but in the run-up to the dissolution, parliament had been reportedly criticized for being ineffective. It was the second time since he acceded to the throne in 1999 that the King dissolved parliament early. He tasked Prime Minister Nader Dahabi with planning parliamentary elections, which he said should be "transparent and fair, reflecting Jordan's reform drive".
Elections were postponed to allow more time to draft an electoral law. The King subsequently issued 30 decrees, including Law No. 9 of 2009, or a "temporary" electoral law. On 24 May 2010, the Cabinet published the temporary electoral law, thereby paving the way for parliamentary elections to take place. On 15 June, the Cabinet set parliamentary elections for 9 November.
The law provides for a 120-member House of Representatives (up from 110). The seats reserved for women doubled to 12, while those reserved for minorities remained at 12 (nine for Christians and three for Circassians).
The Cabinet argued that the revised law aims to curb tribalism since it does not specify any geographical boundaries for the sub-districts. However, many analysts claim that the new electoral system, which provides for smaller sub-districts, would tend to boost tribalism since candidates would campaign among a smaller pool of core voters than before. Some analysts also warned that sub-districting might result in the election of candidates over others who win more votes in the electoral zone, depending on which sub-district they represent. The new law gives some additional seats to big cities but many more seats are attributed to rural areas. The IAF criticized the new electoral law, arguing that it was designed to limit its parliamentary representation and, consequently, that of the Muslim Brotherhood. In September, the IAF announced that it would boycott the 2010 elections.
In all, 763 candidates - including 100 former parliamentarians and 134 women - stood for the 2010 elections. Most candidates stood as independents but reportedly have strong ties to tribes traditionally loyal to the King. Seven IAF candidates defied the boycott and ran as independents.
The elections were held amid economic woes. The country's budget deficit reached a record US$ 2 billion and its debt soared to US$ 4.7 billion in August 2010, close to 60 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Unemployment was approaching 13 per cent. Prime Minister Al-Rifai pledged to halve the deficit within a year.
The major election issues included how to deal with inflation, increases in fuel and food prices and unemployment. In mid-October, a member of the Israeli Parliament stated that the "solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was to consider Jordan as the future Palestinian State, pushing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to the centre stage of the 2010 elections.
Many candidates, regardless of their political persuasions, criticized Israel and pledged to defend Jordan from the "Israeli threat", while avoiding calls for violence. Some called for ending the Peace Treaty with Israel, signed by the then King Hussein in 1994. Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab States to have reached a peace deal with Israel. King Abdullah II stated that Jordan would not accept any solution to the Palestinian conflict at the expense of Jordan.
The Cabinet declared polling day a holiday in a bid to encourage citizens to vote. According to official figures, 53 per cent of 2.37 million eligible voters turned out at the polls. Turnout in rural areas was higher than in the big cities, where the IAF reportedly draws its support. Only 34 per cent of voters in the capital Amman turned out at the polls.
According to the police, there were 53 violent incidents across the country on polling day, including one in which a 25-year-old man was killed in a shoot-out between supporters of rival candidates.
For the first time, the government agreed to allow 250 international observers to monitor the elections. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) noted that there had been a clear improvement over the previous election in 2007 and recommended further improvements in the way elections are administered.
Pro-government candidates and those close to King Abdullah II triumphed in the parliamentary elections. 20 former Cabinet ministers and 78 first-time parliamentarians from Bedouin tribal families were elected. One IAF candidate, who stood as an independent, was elected. In all, 13 women (12 under the reserved seats and one outside the quota) were elected. A woman candidate in a Bedouin district won one of the reserved seats, becoming the first Bedouin woman to enter the House of Representatives.
IAF Secretary General Hamzah Mansour rejected the election outcome, claiming that the elections had been marred by vote-buying and other irregularities. Some unsuccessful candidates, who won more votes than winning candidates in the same electoral zone, demanded that the electoral law be amended.
On 20 November, King Abdullah II tasked Mr. Samir Al-Rifai with forming a new cabinet. The latter subsequently formed a 30-member cabinet, including three women, which was approved by a royal decree on 24 November.
On 25 November, King Abdullah II appointed 60 senators, including nine women. Mr. Taher Al-Masri was re-appointed as Senate President by royal decree.
On 28 November, King Abdullah II officially inaugurated parliament. On the same day, the House of Representatives elected former prime minister Mr. Faisal Al-Fayez as its new Speaker. |
