(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, JULY 12 - Main opposition parties in
Jordan on Wednesday decided to boycott the parliament elections,
one day after the parliament approved an amendment to the
elections law on hope of luring the opposition into
participation, opposition leaders said.
The previous system, which was approved by the government last month, allocated 17 seats for political parties out of 140, the amendment added 10 seats to the parties on hope satisfying opposition demands.The government last week sent to the parliament an amendment to the election law two weeks after it was approved. According to the amendment, political parties will be guaranteed 27 seats out of 140 seats, which will be elected under the one man one vote system. Under the legislation, 113 seats will be decided by one vote at the district level in what experts claim is a "carbon copy" of a one-person, one-vote formula that has produced successive tribal- and independent-dominated parliaments that have failed in their monitoring and legislative roles and eroded "the public's faith in the political process". The Islamist movement joined hands with leftist parties and independent figures in issuing a strong worded statement over the one man one vote law, which empowers loyalist tribes and marginalizes parties and Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who comprise majority of the population.
The group called for government resignation and a national salvation government that can produce a law that meets public aspiration.
The decision comes as a blow to king Abdullah who put his weight behind the law earlier this week when addressing the nation in a televised speech, where he urged all groups to participate in the election as the law was being amended.
The king has been under increasing pressure to include the Islamist movement in upcoming elections after Islamist Mohamed Mursi won Egypt's elections. The government said it was planning to hold elections by year. (ANSAmed).
The previous system, which was approved by the government last month, allocated 17 seats for political parties out of 140, the amendment added 10 seats to the parties on hope satisfying opposition demands.The government last week sent to the parliament an amendment to the election law two weeks after it was approved. According to the amendment, political parties will be guaranteed 27 seats out of 140 seats, which will be elected under the one man one vote system. Under the legislation, 113 seats will be decided by one vote at the district level in what experts claim is a "carbon copy" of a one-person, one-vote formula that has produced successive tribal- and independent-dominated parliaments that have failed in their monitoring and legislative roles and eroded "the public's faith in the political process". The Islamist movement joined hands with leftist parties and independent figures in issuing a strong worded statement over the one man one vote law, which empowers loyalist tribes and marginalizes parties and Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who comprise majority of the population.
The group called for government resignation and a national salvation government that can produce a law that meets public aspiration.
The decision comes as a blow to king Abdullah who put his weight behind the law earlier this week when addressing the nation in a televised speech, where he urged all groups to participate in the election as the law was being amended.
The king has been under increasing pressure to include the Islamist movement in upcoming elections after Islamist Mohamed Mursi won Egypt's elections. The government said it was planning to hold elections by year. (ANSAmed).
