MPs continue deliberations over political parties bill

AMMAN — The number of founding members of any political party should not be less than 150, under an article in the draft political parties law endorsed by a majority of MPs on Tuesday.

Some lawmakers did not succeed in having their proposal approved to decrease the number of founding members to 10 as the overwhelming majority of deputies insisted on 150 as in the government version of the bill.

Under MPs’ amendments to the 2015 bill, political party members should be Jordanians aged 18 or above with no criminal record and no affiliation with a non-Jordanian political organisation.

Judges and army personnel, or those of other security bodies, cannot be political party members, according to the article endorsed by MPs.

As written by the government and approved by MPs, a political parties should be established on the basis of citizenship, equality and political dualism and not on ethnic, religious or ideological bases. 

As previously amended by the House’s legal and public freedoms committees, political parties can receive additional financing provided that they win parliamentary or municipal seats paralleling the number of votes they gain.

The 150-member House will continue examining the reform-oriented law in the coming sessions.