- Title: JORDAN-POLITICS Jordanian government introduces new draft election law
- Date: 1st September 2015
- Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (AUGUST 31, 2015) (REUTERS) PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER, ABDULLAH ENSOUR, SEATED AT PRESS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SEATED CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JORDAN'S PRIME MINISTER, ABDULLAH ENSOUR, SAYING: "The government has decided that citizens who will vote, will vote for all the seats in his/her electoral district, based on the law that was in force in 1989. If the electoral district contains five seats, the voter can choose all five. He can choose five candidates, or less, he is not forced to choose all five. If the electoral district has 8, he will vote for 8. If it has three, he will vote for three." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JORDAN'S PRIME MINISTER, ABDULLAH ENSOUR, SAYING: "Some of the governorates in the country are big, like Amman, Irbid and Al Zarqa. So perhaps in the next stage of the law, these governorates will be divided into two, three, four, maybe five electoral districts. This will take place after the law is passed. It isn't currently in the law. As for the rest of the governorates, they will each contain one electoral district." JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION / OTHER JOURNALISTS SEATED AT PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JORDAN'S PRIME MINISTER, ABDULLAH ENSOUR, SAYING: "The number of seats [in the parliament] has gone down from 150 in the current law to 130 in the upcoming law. We have cut 20 seats. This is due to several reasons, we are forced to reduce the number of members of parliament due to the lack of party life." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES VARIOUS OF PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT HEADQUARTERS SIGN THAT READS (Arabic and English) ''ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT PARTY'' DEPUTY HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT, ALI ABU SUKKAR, AT HIS DESK LOGO OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEPUTY HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT, ALI ABU SUKKAR, SAYING: "The proposed law has certain benefits, notably the cancellation of one-vote law, which we considered to be a negative system that separated the Jordanian people. Another benefit is the expansion of the electoral district, where the governorate becomes one electoral district. But there are downsides, notably the abolition of the national party list rather than working to develop it for the political life and the development of party mindsets." ABU SUKKAR'S HANDS AS HE SPEAKS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEPUTY HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT, ALI ABU SUKKAR, SAYING: "Certainly with this change, we will seriously re-asses the option of participating [in the next election]. But this is not certain, until the Jordanian people welcome the new law, but we will study this issue in an institutional way through our Shura councils." VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPERS ON DISPLAY WITH HEADLINES ABOUT THE NEW DRAFT LAW GROUP OF BOYS WALKING IN STREET CARS DRIVING IN STREET
- Embargoed: 16th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jordan
- Country: Jordan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6QUYP1C1M8ANHOWLH7XZ4AIT8
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Jordanian government announced on Monday (August 31) a new draft election law that aims to revoke the one-man, one-vote electoral system.
According to the new draft law, eligible voters will have a number of votes equal to the seats allocated for their electoral districts.
Speaking during a press conference, Jordan's prime Minster Abdullah Ensour said the proposed law will take the country back to the multi-vote system that was adopted for a short period in 1989.
"The government has decided that citizens who will vote, will vote for all the seats in his/her electoral district, based on the law that was in force in 1989. If the electoral district contains five seats, the voter can choose all five. He can choose five candidates, or less, he is not forced to choose all five. If the electoral district has 8, he will vote for 8. If it has three, he will vote for three," Ensour told journalists.
The previous law, on the basis of which the 2013 parliamentary elections were held, voters could choose one candidate at the district level and another for a closed proportional list that competed for 27 seats at the national level.
The new proposed bill will also expand the electoral districts.
"Some of the governorates in the country are big, like Amman, Irbid and Al Zarqa. So perhaps in the next stage of the law, these governorates will be divided into two, three, four, maybe five electoral districts. This will take place after the law is passed. It isn't currently in the law. As for the rest of the governorates, they will each contain one electoral district," said Ensour.
Ensour also noted that, due to what he described as an absence of party life in the country, the number of parliamentarians will be reduced.
"The number of seats [in the parliament] has gone down from 150 in the current law to 130 in the upcoming law. We have cut 20 seats. This is due to several reasons, we are forced to reduce the number of members of parliament due to the lack of party life," he added.
Abolishing the one-man one-vote system has been a constant demand for many political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, who were notably absent from the 2013 elections.
Ali Abu Sukkar, deputy head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said the party welcomes the new draft law but has some reservations.
"The proposed law has certain benefits, notably the cancellation of one-vote law, which we considered to be a negative system that separated the Jordanian people. Another benefit is the expansion of the electoral district, where the governorate becomes one electoral district. But there are downsides, notably the abolition of the national party list rather than working to develop it for the political life and the development of party mindsets," he said.
Abu Sukkar also noted that the new law may pave the way for the IAF to participate in the upcoming elections.
"Certainly with this change, we will seriously re-asses the option of participating [in the next election]. But this is not certain, until the Jordanian people welcome the new law, but we will study this issue in an institutional way through our Shura councils," he added.
Jordan's next election is due in January 2017, however no official date has been announced yet. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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