Despite a dangerous spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, 1.38 million Jordanians went to the polls, producing a 29.9 percent turnout…reports Asian Lite News
Jordanians went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new house of representatives and ended up bringing in 100 new members to the 130-strong 19th parliament since Jordan was established. Arab News reports
Despite a dangerous spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, 1.38 million Jordanians went to the polls, producing a 29.9 percent turnout. This was a big drop from the 2016 elections where the turnout rate was 36.8 percent.
The elections proved fatal to a variety of political and ideological groups. Left-wing and progressive lists, as well as all nationalists, lost in the elections. Eight of the 15 candidates from the Islamic Action Front lost seats. Of all the other 41 candidates belonging to parties, non were able to muster a single seat.
According to Amer Bani Amer, head of the Rased Al-Hayyat Center, which monitored the elections, only 30 members out of 130 won reelection. He said that it is difficult to ascertain if the low turnout in the elections and the absence of political parties means that Jordan has retracted in its pursuit of democratic reform.
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