A serious setback for the Islamists, a sharp and surprising ascent of businessmen, the vanishing of the left and other opposition forces, a rise in the number of retired military figures and of the old guard, a lack of firmness on the part of the state in face of obvious frauds in the voting process: these are some of the key results of the parliamentary elections in Jordan that took place on November 20 2007. Eighteen years after the first elections of 1989 which followed the lifting of martial law that had been imposed in the aftermath of the1967 war, rooting democracy in Jordan is a difficult process. The context in which the elections were held and the climate that preceded them, including the provisional code under which they were organized and the identity of the winners, are far from many citizens' expectations of building a sound democracy in the Kingdom. The state's neutrality is in question after civil society organizations were prevented from monito ring the process and the government turned a blind eye on irregularities. Vote-buying and transfer of votes from one district to another took place with the state's full knowledge. It allowed the election of the wealthiest candidates and of businessmen who could afford to buy votes. This provides a partial explanation to the retreat of the Muslim Brotherhood whose candidates won only six seats out of the 22 they sought. Other factors however have contributed to their setback, including public opinion's lassitude and disappointment with their performance (in Palestine, Egypt, and Morocco). This is happening in spite of the limited participation of the Islamists in the first place and their efforts to reassure the government and other political forces in Jordan about their intentions namely that they don't seek to dominate the parliament or the government and have therefore abstained from presenting candidates for all the 110 seats. However the retreat of the Islamists has not been counterbalanced by the rise of a rival political force, but rather by the emergence of a serious political vacuum illustrated by the election of a "parliament of loyalty". The de-politicization of the Jordanian parliament is an unhealthy feature and is likely to lead to a decline in transparency and accountability at a time when Jordan is in dire need of such control mechanisms. The government is preparing to raise the price of oil derivatives and lift subsidies on basic food products in a context in which the business sector and private interests sit at the heart of the decision-making process.
| Bookmark this post: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Add a Comment
from Jordan
said:Abed as I mentioned in another reply to your same comment, boycotting the election is a statement but it is a negative statement that will never result in a positive change. Those who boycotted have the right but I do not believe they were "s,art" but contributed to the success of underqialified candidates. Unfortunately, the elections are legitimized regardless of your absence as the 110 deputies will legislate our laws for the next 4 years and this is a horrible scene created mostly but those who boycotted with the same amount of burden as those who sold their votes.
how can you blame those who boycott the Jordanians elections when their participation would have legitimized a great miscarriage of justice.
it's absurd to suggest that Ammanis, who form the majority of voters, and who have a minority of seats in the bogus Jordanian parliament can change anything. for that to happen 1) there has to be equal representation for all jordanians 2) there has to be fair and free elections. both 1 and 2 do not exist in Jordan.
finally, those who boycott do so out of keen interest in national unity. it would be a great accomplishment for the regime if Jordanains start quarelling over crumbs and forget the bigger picture of the devestation of the Arab world, from massive corruption by regime minions to colonialism to destruction of arab world in iraq, palestine, lebanon, sudan, ethiopia, to yemen and more.
i strongly belive because the majorty of Jordanains are educated and very politically aware, they decided not to obsessee with this issue, and not to be puppets in a national disunity scheme aimed at dividing jordanains to make them esier to govern.
i trust fellow jordanians whose candidates have won to protect jordan and jordanains. we are all citizens of this country, regardless of who fills the seats of the worthless parliament.
from Jordan
said:What an analysis!, I couldn't agree more, a parliament without opposition is worthless, and now we have 110 members half of which are pro business and the other half are pro government.
Those who boycotted the election along with those who sold their VOTES will pay a heavy price, whether you think this parliament is legitimate or not it still has the power to pass laws that will effect our lives, the government will have a BALL, no FEAR no accountability no transparency.
This is truly a set back for Jordan, and whether you like Islamist or leftists or you don't they do make a difference.
Maslaha, you are slow today aren't you.
what you say applies in a democracy where 100,000 citizens have 10 times as many seats in a parliament as 10000 citizens.
if the jordanian parliament was meant to function, it would have been structured as a working parliament from the start. but the jordanian parliament was never meant to be a democratic body, just a show for donor countries.
what you suggest works only if the opposition has a chance to make a difference.
in the 90000 jordanian = 2000 jordanians regime math, there is no opposition possible within the system.
So Maasalha, let me explain to you how far this farce goes:
for a law to become a law:
1) the parliament, with 80% of its seats given to 30% drafts the law.
2) the House of Notables, which is 100% appointed must approve the law.
3) king must agree law.
so even if ALL of the silenced Jordanian majority decides to vote, between the Norables and the MPs, and King, they represent less than 10% of decision making power for 70% of marginalized Jordanians.
when a system is utterly corrupted, participation gives it legitimacy.
It's the patriotic thing to do to engage in non-violent forms of protest, such as a boycott.
from Jordan
said:Rum,
Ammani's and Zaqawi's make almost,50% of the population in Jordan, most of which are Jordanians with Palestinian roots, and governments do take that into consideration, whether we want to admit to this fact or not, the fact remains that we do have an identity crises, and governments still not convinced of their loyalty to Jordan nor they want to deal with this issue.
Its not a secret that most Jordanians of Palestinian roots are affiliated with Fateh or Hamas or other Factions, and they vote based on that affiliation ( take a look at the elections in the NAQABAT), PRO Fateh did not want to vote for the IAF candidates ( M. AQIL BAQA"A refugee camp only got less than half of the votes he got last time when PRO Fateh voters voted for him ) and IAF members were not pleased with their own candidates, so this whole boycotte was based on outside factors rather than domestic factors to some extent.
We always talk about national unity, but you know damn well that some candidates still winning based on that tactic, I have seen it in my own eyes and heard it in my own ears ( third district Balqa') its sad when you know some one for so many years and discover that he is racist regionalist and the only loyalty to Jordan he has is to the Jordanian's Dinar.
The so called silenced Jordanian majority ( ABO OUDEH'S
term) could have voted for decent candidates who didn't win because they were seated out by vote buyers, where people like your self sat home and did nothing.
We could've had 30% opposition have we voted for the 22 IAF and some leftists and some independets like Malhas who did not run because he anticipated the out come and wanted to keep his face, so we ended up with this parliament, and now you are trying to illegitimatize this parliament?.
So those 80% of the 30% will pass laws and you will comply with them for the rest of your life whether
you choose to or not.
BOYCOTTING is not the SOLUTION.
Masalha, thank you for listing the regime's talking points.
fact is, this is not about loyalty to Jordan, this is about loyalty to the regime.
but even if loyalty is an issue (and it's a bogus excuse) how does making the Jordanian parliament democratic will hurt Jordan? the parliament does not deal with matters of security or foreign policy. all it does is pass laws that govern the daily lives of Jordanians. and these laws must be agreed by house of nobles and the king. so where does loyalty figure in all of this? if a law is harmful to Jordan, I am sure neither the king not the 100% appointed house of "nobles" will block it.
please, spare us your incredibly shallow analysis. this parliament is nothing more than a device to divide jordanains. you prove it with your "loyalty argument."
In every civilized country, such as Canada or Australia, there is no such thing as loyalty test. when people obey the laws of the land, and they have a citizenship, they are Canadians or Americans.
every repressive Arab regime and its minions have excuses. in each country, the excuses differ, but the end result is the same: the systematic destruction of arab political and social progress for the benefit of a handful of families.
but in the end, do you know what this is all about? this is not about loyalty or the flag. this is about the loot. yes, the loot. this is about splitting the national loot. the free schlarships to those who don't deserve it; jobs for those who are not qualified (heard of Hamaza hospital fiasco? this is how Jordan is run) this is about taking money from Jordanians at gun point to pay for your father's "medical" leave in Paris.
if this is about loyalty, then those who have been in power for decades now would have turned jordan into an oasis of prosperity and progress. not a national loot.
all we have is a failed state, as mo
continued...
all we have is a failed state, as most indicators by international NGOs show, from corruption index, to failed state index, to education index, to unemployment index, to declining health care index. have you been following the news?
do you call those responsible for the destruction of Jordan loyal Jordanians? and then you give yourselves the right to judge other Jordanians. you have not earned the right to do that. you have left a country in ruins except for your buddies who are cashing in big times. we can't even get clean drinking water. is that your interpretation of loyalty?
it's all excuses to divide Jordanians and to loot Jordan without anyone getting in the way.
from Jordan
said:Raman,
It irks the hell out of me when some one is arguing a case just for the hell of the argument.
1- The public gathering law, the press law , the voting law the penal code law, all were passed by parliaments, despite the objections of the average citizens, and to say these laws have no effect on the foreign policy or security, then you are as naive as those who boycotted the election.
2- In those civilized countries you've mentioned Canada, US, Australia, you are assumed to be loyal 100% try other wise and you'll see how you get ridiculed by those patriots especially if you are a well know figure, and if you earn that citizenship of those countries you don't take a test but the pledge of allegiance you take when awarded that citizenship is more than a test.
3- Spare us the comparison of other Arab regimes, we are talking about Jordan not Somalia.
4- No one is asking you to be loyal to king Abdallah, Just be loyal to Jordan and the Jordan flag and thats more than enough for me.
5- If there is LOOTING in Jordan its because of people like you who sat on their asses and gave up, while other ignorants electing ignorants like them, which consequantly passed laws that you complaining about.
At the end Sir. yes we have corruption, yes we have a screwed up education system, yes we have a chaotic health system, no freedom, high poverty level and high unemployment which I don't need an international NGO to tell me that the question is
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT ????????
And by the way my father was a working man and passed away as one, and we never recieved any benifits of any kind by any Jordanian government in fact United States been more kind and generous to me and my family far more than any Jordanian government can claims, yet I love this country more than any one can imagins.
"Just be loyal to Jordan and the Jordan flag and thats more than enough for me."
who the fk are you? i could care less what you think of me or anyone else. you have not proven your loyalty to me. all you have is a legacy of corruption, repression, and failure.
from Jordan
said:"you have not proven your loyalty to me"
And how do I prove my loyalty to you Sami?
"who the fk are you? i could care less what you think of me or anyone else".
I am a working man, I don't set there and wait for government's hand outs, I pay taxes, and don't expect much in return, but hope things will turn around, most important I do my civil duties when required, I don't think much of you or people like you, who always expect changes by way of others.
"all you have is a legacy of corruption, repression, and failure".
Again the question is : WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT ??.
Set home and hope corruption, repression will go away?, if you wait on government to make changes you'll be waiting along time, this country is ours, your children and mine, and if you continue with this negative attitude things may never change, and you'll have no right to even bitch about it.
i think the above debate dose prove the jordanian parlement is an incredibly successful tool of division.
Instead of democracy working to limit the powers of the executive, it's used to divide the Jordanian people.
I say the best thing to do, Masalha and Rum, is for you both to migrate.
Don't fall into the trap. Don't be a stooge of the regime and fight over crumbs.
It's not possible to change the system democratically, since the US won't permit it. the US has blessed the destruction of Jordan's democracy like they blessed the destruction of other democracies around the world in favor of despots who do their bidding. Why send American troops in harm's way when you canlet Arabs kill each other.
So to save Jordan from turmoil, just leave. That's what hundreds of thousands of responsible Jordanians did. Sometimes you have to accept that evil is so great that only great forces of nature can change the course of history and end great evil.
the same forces of nature that brought evil to our neighborhood will bring an end to it. and yes, i do believe in divine intervention. it's better than believing in an Iraq or Lebanon or Sudan scenario. That to me is unthinkable.
Batir, at the bottom of you page you post a disclaimer saying among other things that "insults based on Jordanian-Palestinian divisions will be deleted immediately"
But you allowed a guest like Masalha to accuse Jordanian Palestinians of being disloyal or loyal to Hamas and Fatah. Sounds to me like you just write things on your website that have no meaning.
is this an overall pattern with your writings Batir? Do you write things just because they sound intelligent?
from Jordan
said:Guys,
With all due respect, this whole discussion is frustrating and a waste of oxygen.
Obviously some of you already gave up and some believe this country is DOOMED, some even went as far as calling for a massive EXODUS, so don't do any thing, and wait for uncle SAM to come to the rescue, eventually some one will, on top of an American tank, like Ahmad Chalabi of Iraq and Karazai of Afganistan.
"CONSTRUCTIVE CHAOS"
from Jordan
said:Batir,
If you ever sense that I'm calling for division, or anti National unity, please, please do not post my comments.
Not once in my entire life preached against national unity in fact without it we are DOOMED, Palestinians, Jordanians , East or West of the river I don't care if you're from Zimbabwi, I believe we all in this together, and we all should have equal rights under the law.
So once again my apologies to your readers if my comments were taken out of context and twisted around.
Batir: describing the Jordanian election results as a serious setback for Islamists is absurd, unless you consider ballot-stuffing and election fraud to be a valid measure of the Jordanian people's political aspirations. do you?
from United Kingdom
said:I guess the most Important question would be is what options did the jordanian citizen had before choosing to vote?!!
I couldnt figure any presence of a candidates with a real political agenda!(except for the islamists and some scattered old generation leftists)
I just can't understand how can a community vote for a parliament like that, Are we so politicaly retarded to vote for this kind of candidates when we are in the utmost need of a way to fight corruption, unemployment, and our unplanned economical strategy that is eating our people!!
I'm just so frustrated that i feel ashamed ofwhat happened.
Add a Comment
<<Home
the political vacuum started when most Jordanians decided to boycott the elections. they were smart enough not to legitimize a sham election.