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Jordan: 70% of Winners Are First Time Parliamentarians Indicating a Frustrated Nation

According to political analysts around 70 per cent of the winners in Jordan's parliamentary elections on November 9 are first-time winners indicating that, the public is completely dissatisfied with the performance of the previous parliament and craves reform into the country's political life.

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 According to political analysts around 70 per cent of the winners in Jordan's parliamentary elections on November 9 are first-time winners indicating that, the public is completely dissatisfied with the performance of the previous parliament and craves reform into the country's political life.

Al Arab Al Yawm columnist Fahed Kheitan observed that the chamber's previous lack of interaction with the voter community and genuine care for their concerns and interests was mainly the reason behind the people's frustrations. He added that despite the candidates being new in parliament they were not new in the political arena.

He believed if the new Parliament formed more independent committees it had potential to be stronger.
Political analyst and pollster at the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies Mohammad Masri however disagreed, explaining that although the new make-up of Parliament reflected voters’ desire for change, the election in reality reflected an election that was decided largely on tribal lines.

Masri stressed that voters with tribal affiliations, went to the ballots with personal rather than political agendas, ascertaining that it led to vote buying. Absence of the Muslim Brotherhood's offshoot the Islamic Action Front who decided to boycott was also behind the current composition of the Parliament.