The Law for Political Party Darwinism in Jordan!

After the senates have endorsed the new political parties law in Jordan, a new and grim chapter of political life is unfolding in front of the political parties that are already weak, marginalized and struggling with low popularity.

The Minister of Political Development, who was a party leader just few months ago shouted in the senates session that "this law is a crime against Jordan". He has been partly right and partly wrong.

The law is not only a crime but a massacre for political parties in the country but not necessarily a crime against Jordan. In this position it is vital to identify the strategic objective of any legislative measures concerning political parties. What the country needs is an active, effective and representative political party system that will mobilize people and ideas begind well articulated programmes that provide socio-economic and political alternatives to the current public policies. The new law, which requires each party to register 500 founding members instead of the current 50 threatens to abolish the vast majority of existing parties that can never even mobilize this number of people let alone convincing them to sign an official declaration that will certainly end up with the intelligence and security apparatus!

The current number of 50 founders is ridiculous. Any group of friends can form a party over a Mansaf gathering and then rent an apartment and purchase computers, faxes and phone lines and start engaging in political life. This is not what Jordan needs. The original draft by the government required 250 founding members from 5 governorates which does make since. This number can be achieved with some hard work for 6 months for any serious party, and if any other party fails to register 250 members after 18 years of open political party system then it simply does not deserve to be sustained.

Jordan does need a system of political party Darwinism where survival is only for the fittest, but in a gradual evolutionary process based on equal opportunities. The 250 members' condition was logical for this evolutionary system but the 500 number is much like a meteorite that will hit the political party sphere and demolish life with only one surviving species, the Islamists.

The law requires parties to "adjust" their situation within one year of issuing the law and I can hardly see any party apart from the Islamic Action Front (IAF) and maybe a merger of left parties to achieve this. Even the conservative so-called national parties will find it hard to survive unless an amazing act of altruism will convince leaders of 15 parties to agree to form one party with one leader which is a mission impossible in the typical Jordanian political-tribal mentality.

The main annoying question is why do political parties face extinction after 18 years of public presence, and why did they fail to penetrate the Jordanian society? I think the picture attached to this post which you can view below gives a big chunk of the answer.

This is a picture from a "press conference" organized by the leaders of some political aprties last week to denounce the new law. The four party leaders have three microphones in front of them (indicator of very limited media interest) and at least three photos and posters of Saddam Hussein on the walls!

So, no Jordanian flags, no Jordanian symbols (city, rose, citizen, culture) and no interest whatsoever in national identity. Their only concern is a dictator who was executed and who has never allowed the other opinion to be expressed, and the agenda is imported from outside.

Look, I am no isolationist. I am very interested in the struggles of Arab people for democracy, freedom and independence but the priority should be to national issues. How can such miserable parties manage to reach out to people in the governorates or develop sound socio-economic programmes?

The parties may blame the new law but they sould remeber that they wasted 18 yaers without building any public base which is an indicator of failure. The end result is another sorry period of dichotomy between the government and the Islamist dominance of political life with the absence of any third way arising from national priorities.

This is bad for the country and for the aspirations of political development and it is certain that we will continue to be squeezed between the government and the Islamists for no less than 4 more years and even more. It will remain to be seen how the Darwinist evolutionary principles will apply to Jordanian parties.