2013
Jordan Parliamentary Elections
8
E
XECUTIVE SUMMARY
On January 23, 2013, approximately 1.3 million Jordanians voted in elections that saw more than
1,425 candidates running for the 150 seats in the
Majlis al-Nuwaab,
Jordan’s lower house of
parliament. These elections marked a step forward for Jordan on its path towards a constitutional
monarchy. The elections were carried out under the supervision of Jordan’s new Independent
Election Commission (IEC) in accordance with a controversial election law that Jordanians across
the spectrum believe needs to undergo further reform.
The Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy whose executive, King Abdullah II, wields
significant authority through an appointed prime minster and cabinet. The bicameral parliament is
divided into the
Majlis al-Aayan,
or upper house, consisting of 60 appointed members, and the
Majlis
al-Nuwaab,
the lower house made up of 150 seats. Of those, 108 are elected from 45 single and
multi-member districts and 27 are elected through national proportional lists, which are not required
to be formal political parties. An additional 15 seats are reserved for a women’s quota. Election
districts in Jordan are disproportionate, with the less populated rural districts having significantly
fewer citizens per representative than the more populous urban districts.
The International Republican Institute (IRI) has 30 years of experience observing more than 150
elections in more than 46 countries. IRI was represented by a delegation of election witnesses for
the November 2010 parliamentary elections, and was invited by the IEC to send a group of official
international observers for these elections.
The findings and recommendations presented in this report are drawn from the observations of
IRI’s three teams of long-term observers which deployed to the field two months prior to Election
Day and 15 short-term observer teams which deployed immediately before Election Day. Long-
term observers witnessed the campaign period and provided detailed context for the short-term
observers by meeting with a wide range of electoral stakeholders throughout the country. Short-
term observer teams, including international delegates and IRI staff, arrived in Amman three days
prior to the elections and were briefed by stakeholders and the long-term observers before deploying
to all of Jordan’s 12 governorates. On Election Day IRI teams observed voting at more than 175
polling stations.
The 2013 parliamentary elections showed both the significant progress Jordan has made and the
long road ahead. Improvements in voter and candidate registration, transparency in vote counting,
ensuring the secrecy of the vote and providing the conditions for election observation for both
citizen and international groups all made for more transparent and legitimate elections. The
institutionalization of the IEC, and its work in operationalizing many of the National Dialogue
Committee’s (NDC) recommendations, added to the sense among citizens that the elections were
not being stage-managed or interfered with by the government or its surrogates.
It is troubling that the Municipal Law was not amended to grant the IEC legal jurisdiction over the
August 27, 2013 municipal elections. Instead the IEC was only asked to oversee the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs in this effort. This decision detracts from important steps taken towards
conducting more credible elections in Jordan.
