House panel meets around 7,000 people to discuss draft election law

AMMAN — The Lower House is expected to receive a "thoroughly-examined" version of the 2015 parliamentary election law from its Legal Committee by the end of this month, a veteran lawmaker said on Sunday.

President of the Legal Committee MP Mustafa Amawi said that the panel has held 112 meetings with representatives of the social and political spectra across the country to discuss the suggested elections law.

"The 6,842 people we met represented tribes, political parties, civil society organisations, youth and women’s societies, former premiers and professional organisations who contributed a total of 1,123 proposals during the discussions over the law," Amawi said.

The committee has examined all these suggestions, he said, adding that they included stiffening the penalty for the use of political money, enlarging the electoral districts and expanding the quota system, among many others.

"Forty-five per cent of the people we met expressed satisfaction over the new law for its preservation of some kind of the one-person, one-vote electoral system," Amawi told The Jordan Times.

“Some people, however, expressed concerns that the law would cause tribal disputes.”

The government sent the law to the House in September last year.

Under the 2015 elections bill, the number of Lower House members has been reduced to 130 from 150, based on the open proportional list at the district level.

The new law is based on an at-large voting system in which all candidates can run for parliamentary elections on one large multi-member ticket

Under Article 9 of the bill, eligible voters will have a number of votes equal to the number of seats allocated for their district in the Lower House.

“In my opinion, this law ensures fair representation of all social segments, regions and political powers in the House. Each segment will have a fair representation in the Chamber that reflects its actual size,” Amawi, who is also the House first deputy speaker, said.