The Jordanian public is debating the integrity of the country's parliamentary elections. Oula Al-Farawat in Amman feels the people's pulse Preparations to choose the occupants of the 110-seat lawmakers house in Jordan will reach their climax on 20 November but the elections will most likely be marred by a public reluctance to vote and the dominance of tribalism and favouritism. According to analysts, the polls are expected to produce a traditional tribal parliament with the one-man, one-vote election system, thus pressuring Jordanians into choosing a "family" member and severing any chance for a politically-diverse lawmakers house. The kingdom's horizons are awash with banners of candidates raising slogans combating unemployment and fighting the rise in prices, to liberating Palestine and Iraq. Many have called the slogans unrealistic while political commentator Batir Wardam said they embody "a great disappointment". "This is the age of businessmen and tribal leaders and some left-overs of the Islamists, but it is not a place whatsoever for enlightened intellectuals who want to make a change," Wardam said. "The schizophrenia between official statements about reform and the actual support for businessmen and tribal leaders causes a headache to everyone who feels that there is a chance for real democracy in Jordan," Wardam added. Jordan's 15th parliament is set to face a myriad of contentious political and economic issues starting with an imminent government decision to completely lift its subsidies of oil derivatives and a rising cost of living, to troubled neighbourhoods in bordering Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. Despite the expected big responsibilities, many have argued that the coming parliament will be shallow, focussing on services and shying away from pressing issues internally and externally. "The Lower House will as usual be focussed on servicing voters and manipulating the government into meeting people's demands, such as finding jobs in the government to installing water and electricity metres and asphalting roads," said Jihad Al-Mansi, a political reporter specialised in parliamentary issues. Al-Mansi expected the upcoming legislature to have "a low ceiling" in light of the foreseen absence of political party blocs and the dominance of tribal MPs. Around 1,000 candidates are running for the elections. They are competing for the votes of around 2.5 million eligible and registered voters, 52 per cent of them women. The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's biggest and most organised political party, is the only party running in a unified list fielding 22 candidates, while the rest of the candidates are running either independently or representing a tribe. The IAF on Tuesday claimed the government would manipulate the polls and warned that it will fight vote-rigging, which was behind the IAF's decision to pull out from municipal polls in July. The IAF had also boycotted Jordan's 1997 parliamentary elections in protest at the one-man, one-vote system. IAF Election Committee Chief Hekmat Rawashdeh said in a press conference Tuesday that the government did not provide enough practical measures to gain the confidence of the people, urging authorities to prevent "vote buying and any interference in the electoral process". The IAF warned that any manipulation in the voting process will make people reluctant to vote and "deepen their despair". Voters in Jordan are hardly upbeat about the elections with a recent poll showing that only half of all Jordanians will take part. The poll, conducted by the University of Jordan's Centre for Strategic Studies, also showed that 50 per cent of Jordanians did not believe the former parliament was successful in doing its job while only 13 per cent said it was independent of outside interference. Around 80 per cent believed that "personal interest" was the main factor influencing deputies' decisions. "Next Tuesday will be great for me to relax and sleep," Suzan Hammoudi, 29, said. "I will not bother to leave the house to vote... the last government did not do anything to help me and this one won't," Hammoudi, a secretary, added. Interestingly, the CSS poll showed that only 54 per cent of Jordanians believe that the elections will be fair, while 18 per cent said it will be rigged. The rest could not make up their minds. Competing for a six-seat quota, 203 women are running in the polls. Most of them believe that the quota system "is a temporary solution" to people's unwillingness to vote for women. Samar Hajj Hassan, a woman activist running in Amman's third district, said the way the quota was calculated was not fair for the gentler gender, especially those running in large districts. The women quota, which was approved in the 2003 temporary law, is based on the percentage of votes a woman candidate garners in relation to the number of votes in a certain district. The 2003 elections witnessed women collecting a high number of votes but failing in the elections because the percentage of votes they got was lower than the percentage of votes other women in smaller districts garnered. "We will try to prove ourselves during these elections. Women should be able to prove themselves and persuade the society to elect them," Hajj Hassan said in a televised interview. But political analyst Hussein Abu Rumman said the government has "failed women" by keeping the quota system unchanged, and not responding to the demands of women organisations to increase the number of seats allocated to women. "The council of ministers has ignored a unanimous decision by the women's movement and civil rights institutions to increase the [women's quota] of seats to 12, which is a seat for every governorate. The woman who musters the highest number of votes in each governorate should win," Abu Rumman suggested. Whether admitting it or not, the government is facing a difficult job persuading Jordanians to vote for what many predict will be a puppet parliament. The challenge remains in balancing its priorities in volatile internal and external environments.
