Lower House endorses municipalities bill

AMMAN — The Lower House on Sunday endorsed the draft municipalities law with amendments to the government's version of the bill.

During an evening session, deputies adopted by consensus a proposal submitted by MPs Khalil Atiyeh (Amman, 1st District) and Wafaa Bani Mustafa (Jerash, 1st District) to keep incumbent municipal councils in office until the end of their four-year term, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour commended the House's move, noting that the government has been receiving positive feedback on the performance of these municipal councils.

The municipalities bill is among key reform-oriented laws geared towards enhancing decentralisation and empowering the public to be involved in decision making. It enhances the autonomy of municipalities and expands their responsibilities and jurisdiction.

At the evening session, the 150-strong House endorsed provisions related to electoral crimes and regulations governing the contestation of election results, Petra reported.

Lawmakers also endorsed a provision stipulating that mayors or heads of local councils, or members of local or municipal councils, may be stripped of their membership — under a decision by the minister of municipal affairs — if they commit a violation or harm the interests of the municipality or the local council.

The minister’s decision, in this case, can be contested in administrative courts.

Under another provision endorsed, if the position of mayor becomes vacant for whatever reason, the candidate with the second highest number of votes — if available — succeeds him/her; otherwise, the deputy mayor assumes the role of mayor until his/her term ends, after which the council elects a new mayor and deputy from its members, according to Petra.

At the morning session, deputies endorsed an article requiring candidates for the position of mayor in areas with a population of 100,000 or more to be bachelor’s degree holders.

Candidates running for mayor in areas with a population of more than 15,000 and less than 100,000 should, under the bill endorsed by MPs, hold the high school degree as the minimum requirement.

Under MPs’ amendments, candidates for municipal elections should be at least 25 years old, having no affiliations with non-Jordanian political parties and with no criminal record.

The draft law gives the Council of Ministers the authority to divide municipal areas into units administered by local councils, each made up of at least five members including the president.

In such a case, the municipality is run by a municipal council comprised of the heads of local councils and some of those who received the highest number of votes in these councils.

Each municipal council should be made up of at least seven members, including the mayor.

If a municipality is not divided into areas run by local councils, it is run by a council composed of a mayor and a number of members picked by the minister of municipal affairs, according to the bill.