Jordanians dissatisfied with parliament's performance: poll

May 28, 2009, 7:56 GMT

Amman - The majority of Jordanians are dissatisfied with the performance of the lower house of parliament since its election two years ago - and one quarter would like to see the dissolution of the chamber, according to a poll published Thursday.

The survey, which was conducted by the state-funded Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan, showed that 53 per cent of citizens were critical of the house's performance in general while 56 per cent said that they were not satisfied with the deputies representing them.

The survey is set to fuel calls by the Islamic-led opposition and the press for the dissolution of the lower house, observers said.

The poll also revealed public conviction that the 110-member house had failed to address key local problems, mainly corruption, restricted freedoms and economies woes.

At least 71 per cent of respondents said they were unable to name achievements by the house over the past two years since its election, which was marred by accusations of rigging and vote buying.

'The inability of people to name any achievements of the incumbent house and the negative feedback on its performance means that the general public are not optimistic that lawmakers will live up to the expectations of citizens' in the remaining two years of the chamber's life, said pollster Mohammad Masri.

'Only one-third of the public still believes the house's performance could improve,' he added.

Masri warned that the retreating confidence in the House of Representatives could 'reflect negatively on other institutions in the country'.

The poll involved in-person interviews with 1,764 respondents out of 1,830 people. Sixty six refused to respond, while the margin of error was put at 2 per cent.