2013
Jordan Parliamentary Elections
13
King’s powers with respect to holding elections, appointing and dismissing the prime minister and
appointing the senate.
At the conclusion of its two months of deliberations, the most significant recommendation by the
NDC was to discard the controversial SNTV system. As an alternative to SNTV, the NDC backed
a two-tier electoral system with 15 seats to be elected through a national proportional list, while the
remaining 115 seats would be determined through a bloc-vote system at the governorate level.
This
bloc-vote system was last used in 1989, and allowed voters to select as many candidates as there
were seats in the constituency. This format was widely believed to have increased political party
participation and was supported by the IAF whose candidates won roughly a quarter of seats in the
lower house in the 1989 elections. The NDC proposals, however, were not ultimately adopted.
The recommendations of the Royal Commission on Constitutional Review, which was made up
mostly of former prime ministers appointed by the King and which notably did not include
opposition representatives, were meaningful but limited in scope. Eventual changes to the
constitution recommended by the commission created a constitutional court and restricted the
government’s right to issue controversial provisional laws (which had regulated previous elections)
but did not substantively deal with or address the issue of parliament’s powers versus the
monarchy’s. Passed by parliament in 2011, the constitutional changes created an independent
election management body, long a demand of reformists, and recommended by international
observer groups, including IRI, as a best practice.
The end result of the debate over the election law was a useful, but ultimately cosmetic, set of
changes passed by parliament in July 2012. Though improvements were made to the electoral
process from a technical perspective, primarily to voter registration, transparency in the vote count,
ensuring the secrecy of the vote and election observation, the code disappointed reform activists
who advocated for measures that would have provided more representative districting and equitable
representation.
Changes to the political party law as envisioned by NDC widened the scope for party activity in
Jordan by reducing the oversight role of the Ministry of Information in party affairs, decreasing the
number of founding members required for registering a party and allowing parties to own media
outlets. A good number of the NDC suggestions regarding political party law were rolled back, with
the exception of media ownership, limiting the impact of the reforms; nevertheless, the political
party law adopted by parliament in 2012 was an improvement over the 2007 law. Such changes only
begin to scratch the surface, however; constitutional change is necessary for parties to fully flourish
in Jordan.
Following the adoption of the election law, the newly-mandated election management body, the
IEC, announced elections for January 23, 2013. The King dissolved parliament accordingly in early
October 2012. Once the cabinet resigned, Abdullah Ensour was appointed prime minister and
tasked with the formation of a transitional cabinet and preparation for the elections. Ensour, a
2
Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (IX): Dallying with Reform in a Divided Jordan
. Middle East/North Africa
Report, No. 118. International Crisis Group. 12 March 2012. p. 6-7.
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popular-protest-in-north-africa-and-the-middle-east-ix-dallying-with-reform-in-a-divided-jordan.pdf >.
