‘King has final say on mechanism for holding parliamentary elections’

AMMAN — Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Musa Maaytah on Sunday affirmed that the sole decision-maker regarding conducting the parliamentary elections is His Majesty King Abdullah.

"King Abdullah has the final say on when the parliamentary elections will be held, taking into consideration citizens' health, safety and security," Maaytah told The Jordan Times. 

While chairing a Cabinet meeting on June 10, King Abdullah said that "previous crises that faced Jordan did not deter the Kingdom from moving forward with Constitutional requirements".

The epidemiological situation in Jordan and the importance of guaranteeing public safety and health will be the deciding factors in the timing, within Constitutional limitations and requirements, His Majesty said.

Maaytah noted that the government is studying many scenarios to ensure that the election process will go smoothly, given the recent COVID-19 crisis. One of the scenarios is to extend the life of Parliament by one or two years depending on the health situation.

"Extending Parliament is an option, since the Kingdom has not witnessed any extension of Parliament since 1989," Maaytah said.

The minister ruled out the possibility of remote voting using technological means since online voting "does not meet the basic standards for monitoring the electoral process with transparency and integrity".

"E-voting will open the way for black money to enter the electoral process and there is a high chance that the system could be hacked, resulting in manipulations in the results," Maaytah said.

The minister stressed that the government's main concern is to ensure that the elections, when held, “will be just and transparent and that our citizens are convinced and satisfied with the process".

Earlier this month, the Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils (Rasid) stated in a policy paper that the government has four constitutional alternatives for holding parliamentary elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first option is to hold the elections on their Constitutional date, September 27, without dissolving the Lower House and dismissing the government.

The second option is to hold the elections on their Constitutional date but dissolve the Lower House before mid-June and dismiss the government based on the Constitution’s articles. The Kingdom has taken this course of action often in the past.

The third option is to postpone the parliamentary elections, which can be done in two ways: The first involves dissolving the Lower House, dismissing the government and holding elections after the end of the Lower House's 18th Constitutional period, while the second involves holding the elections without dissolving the House or dismissing the government, meaning that the 18th House will hand over authority to the 19th House.

The fourth option is to hold the elections one or two years after the end of the 18th Lower House's Constitutional period after extending the current Lower House. 

Meanwhile, the Independent Election Commission has recently announced that it has taken "all necessary precautions and preventive measures" to guarantee the safety of citizens once a decision is taken regarding the 2020 parliamentary elections.

The commission stated that it has provided training materials that will be available to organisations, coalitions and regulatory bodies for use in monitoring the electoral process.

The commission also said it has reviewed its regulations to ensure that the elections are held in accordance with health and safety requirements, including the transfer of electronic materials for voting, polling and counting committees to be made remotely.

The preparations also include digitising educational materials and creating a training manual for journalists and media personnel.

His Majesty in February stressed the importance of encouraging all citizens, especially young Jordanians, to participate in the political process.

The King's remarks came at a meeting with the heads of the executive and legislative authorities, the vice president of the Judicial Council and the chief commissioner of the Independent Election Commission, as part of regular meetings to discuss domestic and regional concerns.