Parliamentary Affairs

Jordan's First Parliamentary Elections under His Majesty King Abdullah's reign took place on June 18th 2003. Some 1.3 million Jordanians turned out at voting centers to elect their representatives to the Kingdom's 14th Lower House of Parliament, with independent candidates sweeping the majority of seats.

The number of voters who cast their ballots constituted almost 58.8 per cent of registered voters, who total 2,325,496 of the country's 5.4 million citizens. The highest turnout, 86 per cent, was registered in Karak, while the lowest ratio of voters, 44.62 per cent, was in Amman.

The elections yielded 104 male representatives, and six female deputies under a new system introducing the extra seats this year. The Kingdom's most prominent tribal representatives carried a large majority of the seats in the country's 45 constituencies.

His Majesty King Abdullah has described the elections as a "historic milestone," one marking a new beginning for the Jordanian people. His Majesty expressed hope that the new Parliament will turn Jordan into a model of democracy for the Arab region.

A Royal Decree issued June 25th called on the newly elected 110 members of the Lower House of Parliament to convene in an extraordinary session starting on Tuesday, July 15.

The decree said: "We Abdullah II Ben Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, summon the Lower House of Parliament to meet in an extraordinary session on July 15, 2003 in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 34 and paragraph 1 of Article 73 of the Constitution."

The newly elected Lower House of Parliament held its first extraordinary session July 15th 2003. Mr. Saad Hayel Srour was elected as speaker of the House. During the first session, deputies also elected the deputy House speakers as well as assistant speakers. First and second deputy speakers were both Al Watan members: Nayef Fayez winning the majority with 69 and former deputy, Sami Khasawneh, with 63 votes in a second round of voting.

The Senate also held its first session on July 15th and elected Senator Fayez Tarawneh as deputy of Senate President Zeid Rifai.

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Reform & Development Strategy II Constitutional Evolution II Political Reform & Democratization II Jordanian Elections 2003 IIParliamentary Affairs