Elections and parliamentary democratization in Jordan

Democratization

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 176-196

  Ryan, Curtis R ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON   (United States)

^b Mary Washington College   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0347680665     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510349808403590     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. On the origins of 'democratization' and liberalization in Jordan, see Rex Brynen, 'Economic Crisis and Post-Rentier Democratization in the Arab World: The Case of Jordan', Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol.25, No.l (1992), pp.69-97; and
2. Laurie A. Brand, 'Economic and Political Liberalization in a Rentier Economy: The Case of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan', in Iliya Harik and Denis J. Sullivan (eds.), Privatization and Liberalization in the Middle East (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992), pp. 167-88.
3. In my assessments of Jordanian democratization I have drawn on interviews with government officials, scholars, leaders of secular and Islamist opposition parties, and Jordanian journalists. Interviews were conducted in Amman, November 1992, February to March 1993 and May 1997.
4. See, for example, Kamel S. Abu Jaber and Schirin H. Fathi, 'The 1989 Jordanian Parliamentary Elections', Orient, No.31 (1990), pp.67-86;
5. Abla M. Amawi, 'The 1993 Elections in Jordan', Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol.16, No.3 (1994), pp. 15-27.
6. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Jordan: Country Report, No.l (1990), p.7.
7. On Islamist opposition in Jordan, see Hanna Y. Freij and Leonard C. Robinson, 'Liberalization, the Islamists, and the Stability of the Arab State: Jordan as a Case Study', The Muslim World, Vol.86, No.l (1996), pp.1-32;
8. Glenn E. Robinson, 'Can Islamists be Democrats? The Case of Jordan', Middle East Journal, Vol.51, No.3 (1997), pp.373-87.
9. The independent or Ikhwan affiliation of some of these parliamentarians was debatable. Thus others have put the numbers at 21 for the Ikhwan and 13 for independent Islamists. See Abu Jaber and Fathi, op. cit., pp.81-3.
10. These included three Ba'thists, one communist, and one representative each for the Jordanian wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). EIU, No. 1,1990, p.7 and Abu Jaber and Fathi, op. cit., p.81.
11. Abu Jaber and Fathi, op. cit., pp.80-81.
12. These divisions were made evident immediately following the polling, in the election for the new speaker of the parliament. Splitting their votes, both the Islamist and leftist/nationalist candidates for the speakership were defeated, leaving Sulayman Arar, the candidate of the centrists, conservatives, and of the regime itself, to take the speakership in a final vote of 44 to 36. EIU, No.l (1990), p.8.
13. EIU, No.1 (1990), pp.8-9.
14. Lamis Andoni, 'Jordan: Dadran's Skillful Game', Middle East International (15 Dec. 1989), pp.8-9.
15. Mary C. Wilson, 'Jordan: Bread, Freedom, or Both?' Current History (Feb. 1994), pp.87-90.
16. For Jordanian assessments of the kingdom's emerging party spectrum, see Ahmad Abu Khusa, al-Dimuqratiyya wa al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya al-Urduniyya (Democracy and Jordanian Political Parties) (Amman: Middle East Publishing Co., 1991);
17. Manvan Ahmad Sulayman al-'Abdalat, Kharita al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya al-Urduniyya (Map of Jordanian Political Parties) (Amman: Dar al-'Ubra, 1992);
18. Sulayman Sways, 'Kharita al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya fi alUrdun' (A Map of Political Parties in Jordan) al-Urdun al-Jadid 1990, pp. 122-41;
19. Ranad al-Khatib 'lyad, al-Tayarat al-Siyasiyya al-Urdun wa Nas al-Mithaq al-Uatani al-Urduni (Political Tendencies in Jordan and Text of the Jordanian National Charter) (Amman, 1991). Note that each of these emerged before the political parties law finally emerged in 1993. It had long been anticipated. For descriptions of the various parties in Jordan's current party spectrum, see
20. Curtis R. Ryan, 'The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.', in Deborah A. Kaple (ed.), World Encyclopaedia of Political Systems and Parties (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1998).
21. Wilson, op. cit., p.90.
22. Tujan al-Faysal was the first woman elected to parliament, but not the first to serve. Layla Sharaf, a former cabinet official and widow of Prime Minister 'Abd al-Hamid Sharaf, was already serving in the appointed upper house of parliament.
23. Freij and Robinson, 'Liberalization, the Islamists, and the Stability of the Arab State', p.28.
24. Interviews with officials charged with registering new political parties, Amman, Feb. 1993.
25. Curtis R. Ryan, 'Peace, Bread and Riots: Jordan and the IMF', Middle East Policy (forthcoming, Fall 1998).
26. Human Rights Watch, Clamping Down on Critics: Human Rights Violations in Advance of the Parliamentary Elections (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1997).
27. Sana Kamal, 'Election Boycott Widens', Middle East International (29 Aug. 1997), p. 10.
28. Both 'Ubaydat and Masri paid a political price for their opposition even after the 1997 elections. On 22 November 1997, when the King appointed the new 40-member upper house of the parliament (which customarily includes all former prime ministers), both 'Ubaydat and Masri were left off the list. In an equally telling omission, the upper house also included no Islamists. Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), Vol.41, No.49 (5 Dec. 1997), p. 16.
29. Ra'id al-Abed, 'King's Jerash Speech Sends Strong Message to Islamists', The Star (25 Sept. 1997). References to Jordanian newspapers refer mainly to on-line versions.
30. al-Abed, 'King's Jerash Speech'.
31. Francesca Ciriaci, 'Islamist Says Postponing Elections is One Way of Getting Out of Dilemma', Jordan Times (8 Oct. 1997).
32. 'Government Launches PR Campaign to Fend Off Allegations of Election Irregularities', ne Star (30 Oct. 1997).
33. Rageh Omaar, 'Elections a Tribal Affair', Middle East International (24 Oct. 1997), pp.4-5.
34. She did not, however, take the loss lightly and charged that the results must have been rigged. In 1998, the case remained in the courts. Rana Husseini, 'Toujan Faisal Blames Loss on Vote Rigging', Jordan Times (6 Nov. 1997).
35. 'Jordanians Elect 13th Parliament', Jordan Times (4 Nov. 1997).
36. Interviews with Jordanian journalists, Amman, May 1997.
37. Yasser Abu Hilaleh, 'When Tribalism Takes Over Urbanism', Jordan Times (6 Nov. 1997).
38. Osama al-Sharif, 'Notes from the Levant: Putting Jordan's Democracy on the Stand', The Star (6 Nov. 1997).
39. Francesca Ciriaci, '44% Turn Out at Tuesday's Polls', Jordan Times (5 Nov. 1997).
40. 'Results of Jordan's Parliamentary Elections', Jordan Information Bureau Web Site (www.jordanembassyus.org).
41. Ciriaci, '44% Turn Out at Tuesday's Polls'.
42. 'Results of Jordan's Parliamentary Elections'.
43. It is worth noting that as the 1997-2001 parliament convened, the newly elected deputies, perhaps self-conscious about public concerns that they represented an entirely pliant proregime group, launched into spirited criticism of the current and recent Jordanian governments. Still, most of the criticism centred on 'acceptable' topics such as poverty and unemployment, with few deputies attacking more controversial issues such as economic restructuring or peace with Israel. See Jordan Times (15 Jan. 1998) and The Star (18 Dec. 1997).