Jordan Times
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Amman records lowest turnout
Islamists win four seats, say resignation a possibility
The municipal elections came to an end Wednesday after a one-day extension in six of Amman’s districts, with final results
showing four Islamist candidates elected despite their party’s pullout from the race a day earlier.
Two of the Islamic Action Front’s (IAF) candidates won mayor seats, while two others became municipal council members,
including a woman in the Jordan Valley, according to the final results.
The government said the decision of the party, the largest opposition group, was disregarded and did not affect the outcome
of the process because it violated the due process.
Citing the law, Minister of Municipal Affairs Nader Thuheirat noted at a press conference held to announce the results that
any candidate wishing to quit the election race should inform the concerned authority one day ahead of the vote at the
latest, and in writing. The IAF met neither requirement, he said.
It is up to the IAF now to decide whether to keep the winning candidates or not, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh told
reporters at the presser.
A senior official from the IAF told The Jordan Times that the group was considering options.
“We have not decided yet what to do regarding the victory of some of our candidates. All options are open, including
resignation,” said Zaki Bani Rsheid, secretary general of the IAF.
Bani Rsheid added that his party “has no interest in knowing the results because the entire election process was a shame”.
He was referring to alleged vote rigging the IAF cited as the reason behind the pullout.
Judeh, who described the polls’ outcome as “encouraging”, reiterated that the elections were free and fair. He accused the
IAF of manipulating the event to score a political win and gain popularity after it “realised that its candidates’ chances
of winning were weak”.
He said he agreed with IAF leaders who said the withdrawal was “political”, saying if the Islamists were certain ahead of
the vote there were irregularities, “why did they not take it to the court beforehand?”
Khalid Neimat contributed to this report
In the street, Jordanians differed in their reactions to Islamists’ pullout.
Khalid Alawneh, 37, told The Jordan Times “it is not the country’s fault if the Islamists cannot understand the ABCs of the
democratic game.”
Begging to disagree, Hazem Nofal, who cast his vote on Tuesday in the Tareq District, spoke of a “conspiracy on the part of
the authorities that forced the Islamists to pullout of this elections”.
“The only right decision under such circumstances was to withdraw from the elections,” he said.
The results of the polls showed that the turnout in Amman remained low despite the extra day, Thuheirat told reporters.
The capital recorded the lowest turnout of 51 per cent, with the number of voting males totalling 130,000, slightly higher
than female voters’ turnout, standing at 124,000.
In other municipalities, 65 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots, the majority of them females.
Nationwide, a total of 1.2 million took part in the elections out of 1.9 million registered voters, according to official
figures released late last night.
At least 420,000 men cast their vote in the Kingdom’s 94 municipalities, compared to 447,000 females.
The highest turnout was recorded in Wadi Araba, amounting to more than 90 per cent.
Out of the 355 women candidates, 20 clinched victory through the ballot box while 195 were granted seats as part of women’s
quota provided for in the new Municipalities Law.
Six women candidates ran for the mayor position, only one from the southern Hassa District, Rana Hajaya, was able to make
it to the helm.