2013
Jordan Parliamentary Elections
17
Gender Roles in Government and Society
Because of societal norms, many women in Jordan are generally ill-informed about politics and
disinclined to participate. At a time when Jordan’s laws regarding political parties and elections have
changed, women remain far less knowledgeable about their rights as citizens and are subject to
pressure from male relatives to vote for candidates who they themselves may not have otherwise
supported. Or they remain on the sidelines, passive and disinclined to engage in anything
“untraditional.” Thus, many women are marginalized in the political process, discouraged or
unwilling to vote their conscience, unlikely to involve themselves in political campaigns and even
less inclined to run for office. Often living isolated in closed and conservative communities, they
thus cannot play a role in the amelioration of their own socio-economic situation. This helps
perpetuate the subjugation of women in society as appendages of their husbands, brothers or
fathers, rather than as citizens acting according to their own conscience and will.
Though the quota for women in the parliament has been steadily raised from six to 12 to 15 in the
current law, or 10 percent of the seats in the lower chamber of parliament, this is below the 20.4
percent global averag
for female participation in parliamentary governments. The women’s quota
works as a “first loser” mechanism, in which the female candidate who receives the highest
percentage of votes in her district among all female candidates but who does not get enough votes
to win a seat outright against male competitors, gains a seat in parliament. In practice, some smaller
tribes that have struggled to win seats outright have used the women’s quota to gain representation
in parliament by putting forward female candidates in small districts where just a few voters can
sway election results through the “first loser” mechanism.
Evidence of the limited role women play in government is apparent in the legal committee in
parliament, tasked with formulating recent electoral reforms, which had no female representation.
In addition, Prime Minister Ensour’s transitional government, in place prior to the elections,
consisted of an all-male cabinet. It should be noted that the quota system does not extend to the
national list portion of the lower house, and no rules for placement of women on these lists were
adopted.
Media
Jordanians are large consumers of media and as such the control of media outlets continues to be a
major issue in the Kingdom. IRI’s opinion poll conducted in July 2012 showed that the
overwhelming majority of Jordanians receive their news from television.
According to the same
IRI poll, the top television stations for information on politics are Jordan TV, Al Haqeeqa Al Dawlia
and Nour Jordan
Most broadcast news organizations are either partially or completely owned by
the government, including top-ranked Jordan TV. As with television news, several of the
newspapers in Jordan are partially owned by the government, and coverage of the King and the
royal family is uniformly positive.
12
Women in National Parliaments
. Accessed 20 March 2013. <
>.
13
International Republican Institute Poll.
National Priorities, Governance and Political Reform in Jordan.
17-20 July 2012. p.
61.
nion%2C%20July%2017-20%2C%202012.pdf>.
14
Ibid.
