Watchdog reports irregularities in recent Jordan polls

Dec 27, 2010, 12:34 GMT

Amman - Jordan's state-funded National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) on Monday reported violations in last month's parliamentary elections that cast doubt on its fairness, transparency and credibility.

The November 9 polling process was marred by a growing phenomenon of vote-buying, which the panel overseeing the elections 'failed to stop,' the NCHR said in an 111-page report.

'The buying of votes had had a clearly negative impact on the electorate's will as well as on the soundness and credibility of the voting process,' said the report, which was based on remarks recorded by 1,250 observers from over 50 civil society institutions.

The vote-buying was aggravated by abuse of programmes to help the illiterate vote. That, the report said, violated provisions of the constitution, it added.

The centre also cited the presence of a large number of policemen and election panels at the polling stations 'which ran counter to the assumed neutrality of the executive branch of the government supervising the polls.'

The report came days after the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai won a confidence vote in the newly elected lower house of parliament, with an unprecedented majority of 111-8.

It also came on the heels of media reports that the country's human rights watchdog had delayed its evaluation of the elections because its chairman, former prime minister Anan Badran, had come under pressure from Rifai not to criticize the latest polling process.

The NCHR said the 2010 temporary election law achieved 'some progress' compared with the 2007 legislation, particularly with regard to increasing the number of seats allocated to women.

'But, at the same time, the centre believes this temporary law had contributed to a weak representation of the political and popular forces and spectrums in the national assembly and helped to limit the fairness and transparency of the elections,' the report said.

The results of the polls, which produced a majority made up of government loyalists and lawmakers with tribal affiliations, sparked riots throughout the country that lasted for several days.

The elections were boycotted by the country's main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), which demanded the passage of certain political reforms, including the adoption of a proportional representation system.

The NCHR report recommended that the temporary election law be reviewed by the parliament to come up with permanent legislation that ensures equality among voters and candidates and could be administered by an independent, credible and neutral entity.

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