New Lower House includes 74 new faces

AMMAN — Last week’s elections of the 18th Lower House brought 74 first-time MPs and 56 former lawmakers to the Dome, according to information reviewed by The Jordan Times. 

Among the former legislators, 39 kept their seats from the 17th Parliament and 17 had held seats in previous legislatures. 

The elections, held on September 20, saw the return of two former speakers of the House — Atef Tarawneh and Abdul Karim Dughmi — while four former ministers were elected as MPs. They are Dughmi, Abdullah Akaileh, Mohammad Nouh Qudah and Mazen Qadi. 

According to the data, nine political parties won 30 seats in the 18th Lower House, with the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, being the largest party in terms of representation with 10 seats, followed by Zamzam (five seats), the National Current (four seats), the Islamic Centrist Part (five seats) and the Justice and Reform Party (two seats). 

The Baath, Communist, National Union and Al Awn parties won one seat each. 

In addition to the 10 seats clinched by the IAF, the party’s allies in the National Coalition for Reform have won five seats. 

Women MPs represent 15 per cent of the 130-member House, as five female candidates won seats outside the 15-seat-quota for women. With 20 female MPs, the new Lower House will have the highest number of women in Parliament’s history. 

Nearly 44 per cent of the new lawmakers are aged under 50, according to the data, which shows that only 3 per cent of the MPs are over 70 years old. 

Only two MPs from the “Mubadara” initiative, launched during the term of the 17th House, managed to keep their seats, while heavyweights such as former Madaba MP Mustafa Hamarneh and former Northern Badia lawmaker Saad Hayel Srour failed to be re-elected. 

The initiative’s two MPs re-elected in the recent polls were Khamis Atiyeh, from Amman 3rd District, and Wafaa Bani Mustafa, who won a seat on the women’s quota in Jerash.  

Mubadara was launched by a group of lawmakers in 2013 by forming a partnership with the government after agreeing on certain short- and long-term policies to address various challenges facing the country.