Women well-represented in IEC committees, activists say

AMMAN — Women’s rights activists on Wednesday praised the work of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in managing the Lower House elections and ensuring the inclusion of female representatives in its committees.

“There were a good number of women represented in the IEC committees that supervised the election halls and this is a good indicator,” said the head of the Women’s Committee at the Senate, Senator Mai Abul Samen.

However, Abul Samen criticised the gender imbalance on the IEC’s board.

“The IEC’s board members included only one woman, Samar Haj Hassan, and this is a pity because there are many qualified women that could have been on the board of this important committee next to her,” Abul Samen told the Jordan Times.

In August, former minister of political and parliamentary affairs Khaled Kalaldeh took the oath before His Majesty King Abdullah as president of the board of the IEC commissioners, while Nazih Ammarin, Haj Hassan, Zuheir Abu Fares and Nayef Al Ibrahim were sworn in as members of the board.

Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) Secretary General Salma Nims echoed Abul Samen, agreeing that there were a positive number of females on the election committees.

Nims went further to say that the IEC cooperated with the JNCW and other local organisations “on campaigns to promote stronger female participation, especially in the governorates”.

“The IEC was very cooperative and helped promote women’s political participation by cooperating with us. In some instances, parts of their campaign were not gender sensitive and when we alerted them they were quick in their response to make the necessary changes,” Nims told The Jordan Times.

The IEC Commissioner Haj Hassan had announced during a meeting with the press on Tuesday that 45 per cent of the 10,000 volunteers participating in the organisation of the elections were female.  

“The percentage of women serving in electoral committees reached 24, and the percentage of women heading an electoral committee was 22 per cent,” Haj Hassan said.

The IEC is tasked with the supervision and administration of all phases of parliamentary elections and other elections called by the Cabinet.

The commission is responsible for  taking all necessary measures to administer fair, impartial and transparent elections based on the principles of justice, equal opportunity and the rule of law.

Both Nims and Abul Samen praised the role of the IEC before and during the election, agreeing that the commission had overseen a well-organised vote with transparency and professionalism.