Proposed political parties bill reduces number of party’s founders

AMMAN — The draft political parties law proposes reducing the number of a party’s founding members and placing registration under the mandate of the Justice Ministry instead of the Interior Ministry, ministers said on Thursday.

Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Khaled Kalaldeh said the Cabinet endorsed the proposed draft law on Wednesday and will refer it to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau.

He said presenting a new political parties law before working on the Elections Law is a required step in preparations for parliamentary governments.

At a joint press conference with Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani, Kalaldeh said the new law is in line with the country’s political reform process and in response to requests by politicians and activists.

He said one of the major changes to the law is reducing the number of a party’s mandatory founding members from 500 to 150. 

At present, the Interior Ministry is responsible for the registration of political parties, while under the amendment, the Justice Ministry will be the authorised party, Kalaldeh added.

Another proposed change entails reducing the mandatory age for a Jordanian to establish a political party from 21 years to 18 years.

In addition, the draft law proposes increasing the period allocated for considering a party as being under establishment from six months to one year, and cancelling the condition stipulating that members of a party should be residing in Jordan.

The government also proposed cancelling the condition that prohibits accepting funds from companies or institutions, Kalaldeh said, adding that a political party can accept funds that do not exceed JD50,000.

Also at the press conference, Momani said the anti-terrorism law seeks to protect the Kingdom from any potential terrorist acts, noting that terrorism is spreading in the region and around the world, and Jordan is one of the countries targeted by terrorists.

He added that the Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed other laws, including a bill on public-private sector partnerships that enables the public sector to benefit from private sector funds.

The government has also endorsed a draft bylaw that regulates partnerships for specific purposes, and another bylaw for Islamic financing.