Gov't keen to ensure elections a success — Maaytah

AMMAN — Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Musa Maaytah on Wednesday said the government is keen to ensure the success of the upcoming elections based on a fair election system with the participation of all segments of society, especially youth.

Maaytah remarks came a day following comments by several election observers who voiced their concern that the elections might be weakened by what is termed as “tribal elections”.

The “tribal elections”, according to observers, is when a certain tribe or a large family decides "to hold their internal elections to decide on a candidate, usually a male, to be their sole representative in the upcoming elections, even if a candidate from the same clan decides to run for elections, which limits the chances of others to compete in a fair manner”.

“We have adopted one of the best election systems in the world and provided it to our citizens in an attempt to develop our political parties,” Maaytah told The Jordan Times.

Under the 2015 Elections Law, voting is based on the open proportional list at the district level. The law stipulates that each list should include no fewer than three candidates and no more than the number of seats allocated for the constituency in which the list is competing.

Under the proportional electoral system, winning lists will be allocated seats according to the percentage of votes they received. The seats will be distributed to the members with the most votes.

The idea, the minister said, is to encourage people to vote for the candidates with the best election programme in addition “to voting for their preferred relatives if they are running for the elections”.

“We offered people the best election system, but it is up to people to use it to their advantage. We cannot force people to make use of any election system,” Maaytah noted.

The minister also praised the effort exerted by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to reach out to all segments of the society.

The IEC assigned October 6, 7, and 8 as the designated dates for individuals to officially register to run for the elections.