Jordan News

The first draft of the draft electoral law, which was approved by the Election Committee of the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System, included an increase in the number of Parliament seats to reach 138, and an increase in women’s seats to be a woman for each electoral district (18 electoral districts with 18 women), and the minimum number of Christians and Circassians remaining. .

According to what the electronic newspaper “Akhbar Al-Jordan” monitored, Christians were assigned 7 seats in the local constituencies, 2 in the national constituency, 2 seats for Circassians in the local constituencies and one seat in the national list.

The draft stipulated the existence of a closed, proportional, general constituency with 30% of the seats and 41 seats at the national level, and constituencies at the local level with 97 seats.

Any voter has the right to run in the Badia districts, and there will be a woman in the first 3 candidates on the national list, and there will be a young man or woman among the first 5 candidates on the national list, knowing that the age of young people who are eligible to run for candidacy has been reduced to 25 years.

According to the monitoring of the electronic newspaper “Akhbar Al-Jordan”, 74 amendments and additions to the electoral law were approved, as the proportion of governorates’ representation was maintained, and the electoral districts were redrawn to be more fair.

In the details, the districts were divided into 3 districts in Amman, 2 in Irbid, 1 in Zarqa, and the remainder within one electoral district, while the voter will have two votes (one for the local district and the other for Watania), and two thresholds have been set; The first at the local level by 7% and the second at the national level with 2.5%.

For his part, the media spokesman for the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System, Dr. Muhannad Mubaideen, confirmed that the reform workshop that was held during the past three months has borne fruit in a way that benefits people and ensures Jordan’s better progress on the democratic path.

Mobaideen said in radio statements today, Monday, that all the constitutional amendments are related to the outputs of the committee, meaning that everything related to the parties and elections laws and the recommendations made by the youth and women committees and the local administration were discussed, in addition to the mechanism of the parliamentary system and parliamentary work in terms of confidence in ministers and others.

As for the outcomes of the parties and elections laws, he confirmed that they are real and the number of members of the House of Representatives will increase to 138, noting that there are two party lists; The first is national and the other is local, as the participation of parties, their lists and their financing were discussed, and that the Secretary-General should not remain for more than two sessions.

And Mubaideen indicated that the government will send the committee’s proposals as received after they are delivered to His Majesty the King to the House of Representatives, who will discuss them for a decision.

The Rapporteur of the Subcommittee of Elections in the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System, Dr. Amer Bani Amer, said that the committee had completed its work and approved the first draft of the draft electoral law.

Bani Amer indicated, in televised statements, that the committee studied 142 reports, studies and research related to the election, and received 192 recommendations related to the same subject, and discussed 31 scenarios that simulate the electoral process.

He added, “There is great and unparalleled interest that has persisted through dozens of sessions and the imposition of presenting a way out worthy of Jordanians and in line with international best practices.”

Bani Amer pointed out that the upcoming elections will have the voters’ schedule based on the place of residence, as the old schedule was not based on that, stressing that duplication between one place and another opens many doors.

He continued, “We have set controls for the use of money in electoral campaigns, as there is corrupt and legitimate money, and for the first time in the text of the law there will be a specific ceiling for spending at the local and national levels,” stressing that there is a mechanism to control spending.

Bani Amer noted that the draft law obligates the independent commission to have oversight, field teams, a bank account, and a classification of expenses, if they are material or immaterial, and there are harsh penalties for those who manipulate campaigns, up to deprivation of a parliamentary seat.

He pointed out that there is a gradation in the fines, as if the candidate exceeds 50% of the specified ceiling, he will pay 50% for it as a fine, and if the amounts exceed 100% of the specified ceiling, he is prohibited from running for elections for two consecutive terms and membership is forfeited from Parliament.

And Bani Amer indicated that the independent commission is obligated to publish the ceilings of campaigns and accounts on the website of all those who nominated.

He added, that the new draft of the electoral law obligated the independent commission to take cases of election crimes with urgency and the public prosecutor must refer them to the court within a week, and the court must issue its decision within a month, noting that “68 cases are still in the drawers of the courts and have not been resolved since the last elections. “.

Bani Amer drew attention to the details of the preliminary law, including; That the independent commission was obligated by the text of the law to publish the director of each polling center the results of the election, with their details on the door of the center, and then announced electronically on the website of the Independent Election Commission.

He explained, “The result will be with the voters as soon as it is published electronically, without the need to return to assembling the Independent Election Commission.”

Bani Amer added that a penalty was imposed on a public official who interferes or influences the formation of electoral lists or affects the voter’s will.

With regard to the parties’ law, the General Authority of the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System approved, in its meeting yesterday, Sunday, headed by the head of the committee, Samir Al-Rifai, the outputs of the Political Parties Committee.

The head of the Parties Committee, Adnan Al-Sawair, said that the draft political parties bill, which was approved by the Royal Committee, establishes a new stage of partisan programmatic work, by providing for the party’s participation in elections and the formation of governments, and allowing university students to join parties, while preventing them from being subjected to the law. Too much responsibility, in addition to ending the state of controversy between what is official and partisan, by transferring the parties’ registry to the Independent Election Commission.

Al-Sawair explained that this necessarily requires an amendment to the constitution, noting that the law allowed affiliation to parties electronically, and made the term of the party’s secretary-general only two sessions, in addition to giving the parties a year to adjust their situation according to the new conditions, which include that the number of founders be 1000 people from 6 governorates per year. At least, with a minimum of 30 people from each governorate, as well as 20% for both women and youth.

Last Wednesday, the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System approved the outputs of the Youth and Women Committees and the Local Administration, while the Royal Committee is expected to complete its work by the end of this month, by preparing a document with its outputs, and submitting it to His Majesty King Abdullah II.