Jordan Times
Monday, November 22, 2004
Habashneh confirms commitment
to political development
By Sahar Aloul
AMMAN — The government has not retracted its decision to draft a “modern
elections law” and intends to pursue the political development programme,
according to Minister of Interior Samir Habashneh.
“The government has not backed off from its political development agenda,”
Habashneh said on Sunday, adding, “the prime minister and his team are working
together to come up with a political parties and elections law to be presented
for deliberation to the public.”
The minister's statements came during the closing session of a two-day seminar
on Elections Law organised Al Quds Centre for Political Studies.
Habashneh had earlier told participants in the seminar on Saturday that the
government would not endorse major amendments to the Elections Law as long as
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains unresolved.
“It is not the right time to discuss reallocating electoral districts or
removing (parliamentary} quotas,” Habashneh said, adding, “we must wait until
things become clear in Palestine.”
The minister declared that the earlier statements were his personal opinion and
did not reflect the government's stand on the issue.
“What was said yesterday [Saturday] was my own personal opinion as the
government has not decided yet on what the law should look like,” the minister
told an audience of lawmakers, academics, political party members and former
government officials. But Habashneh insisted that cancelling parliamentary
quotas is not viable at the moment because “society is not politically mature
yet.”
The interior chief also insisted that the government will not give refugee camps
seats under the Dome as this will be considered settling.
“Any form of parliamentary representation of refugee camps will be looked upon
as an attempt to settle them, thus constituting a blow to the Palestinian cause
and right of return,” the minister said.
According to UNRWA figures, Jordan hosts the largest number of refugees in the
world estimated at 1.7 million — 300,000 of which are residing in 10 refugee
camps across the Kingdom.