Ammon – About a month before the Jordanian Artists Syndicate elections, director Muhannad Al-Safadi announced his withdrawal from the race to run for the position of captain, leaving Dr. Hani Al-Jarrah the only candidate, which paves the way for him to win by acclamation if no new candidate comes forward within the specified legal period.

This development quickly rearranged the electoral landscape, transforming the election from an open competition into an almost settled path, awaiting the completion of official procedures.

Recommendation… a recurring union precedent

Candidates winning by acclamation is not something new in Jordanian trade union life. Rather, it has been repeated in more than one professional union over the past years, whether at the level of the captain’s office or some council sites.

Examples of electoral cycles in which some positions were decided by acclamation include:
• The Jordanian Engineers Association, where in previous sessions elections were held in which some engineering branch positions or central committees won by acclamation as a result of prior consensuses.
• The Jordanian Journalists Syndicate, which witnessed, in one of its sessions, some seats being decided by acclamation as a result of competitors withdrawing before the polling date.
• The Jordanian Medical Association, where cases of uncontested wins were recorded in some governorate branches or positions within the council as a result of the absence of competing candidacies.

These precedents indicate that recommendation is often the result of professional consensus, or calculations related to the balance of power within the general body, and is not necessarily evidence of the absence of union vitality.

A union reality fraught with challenges

The Artists Syndicate elections come in light of thorny issues that require urgent treatment, the most prominent of which are:
• Decline in the volume of local dramatic and theatrical production.
• Limited employment opportunities for artists outside short seasons.
• Problems of social security and health insurance.
• The need to develop membership systems and enhance financial transparency.
• Reformulating the relationship with official institutions and producers.

Artists believe that the real challenge does not lie in the form of victory, but in the ability of the next council to transform electoral stability into a practical reform program that restores the union’s role as a professional body that pressures and defends its members.

High chances even if a competitor appears
According to data circulating within the artistic community, Dr. Hani Al-Jarrah is considered the most likely to win, even if a new candidate comes forward in the coming days, given what is described as having a broad support base and previous union experience.

Between those who see recommendation as an expression of consensus, and those who consider it a reflection of the absence of competition, the biggest bet remains on what comes after the elections:
Will the next leadership be able to address chronic crises whose solution is long overdue?

The coming weeks will decide the final form of the new council, but the real challenge will begin after the results are announced, not when they are announced.