JORDAN: VOTING STARTS IN JORDAN'S FIRST ELECTIONS SINCE ITS PEACE TREATY SIGNING WITH ISRAEL 3 YEARS AGO

Record ID: 350258

  • Title: JORDAN: VOTING STARTS IN JORDAN'S FIRST ELECTIONS SINCE ITS PEACE TREATY SIGNING WITH ISRAEL 3 YEARS AGO
  • Date: 2nd November 1997
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (NOVEMBER 2, 1997)(RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GENERAL VIEWS OF AMMAN (2 SHOTS) 0.07 2. WS OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE/ MEDIA (2 SHOTS) 0.17 3. SV REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRONT PARTY, MULHAM AL-TALL, READING STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE OPPOSITION PARTIES SAYING THIS CONFERENCE HAS BEEN HELD B
  • Embargoed: 17th November 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AMMAN, JORDAN
  • City:
  • Country: Jordan
  • Reuters ID: LVA4XEIRGFZM55E16UYDY9IKCD4G
  • Story Text: INTRO: Voting has started in Jordan's first elections since it signed a historic peace treaty with Israel three years ago.

    But the elections have been overshadowed by a boycott by the Islamic Action Front, which won the biggest share of seats in the last polls.

    Voting got underway in the capital Amman as polls opened at 7 a.m (0500 GMT) on Tuesday (November 4). In the run-up to the election, campaigning for the 80 parliamentary seats has focused mainly on local and economic issues.

    But the elections have been overshadowed by a boycott by the influential Moslem Brotherhood's political wing, the Islamic Action Front, which won the biggest share of seats in the last polls.

    Their boycott has left the field open to independent candidates drawing support from strong tribal and family links.

    Government officials had pledged the elections will be free, fair and open to diplomatic observers, and predicted a large turnout despite the opposition boycott and rain and overcast skies across Jordan.

    Few voters were seen casting their votes by noon in the heavily populated poorer parts of the eastern sector of Amman which are traditionally Islamist strongholds.

    At a press conference called in Amman on Sunday (November 2), Mulham Al-Tall, representative of the opposition Constitutional Front Party, said the election process was going through a "dangerous" stage, and that the election had been "forcibly imposed." His views were echoed by prominent opposition figure Layth Shubalat, head of the Engineers' Association, who charged that the elections had been "rigged." The boycotting parties are protesting against laws passed while parliament was in recess in the last eight months, including tough amendments to Jordan's press law. They have also called for the cancellation of Jordan's three-year peace with Israel, which King Hussein remains committed to.

    The government has predicted an enthusiastic turnout, but boycotting politicians forecast it would be the lowest since Jordan revived parliamentary elections in 1989 after decades of martial rule.

    The highest voter turnout by 1 p.m. (1100 GMT), ranging from 40 to 55 percent, was in the outlying semi-nomadic Bedouin northern and southern constituences where tribal politics hold sway.


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