“For those who want additional reforms or want to develop the Elections Law, they can work from under the Dome of Parliament and through the ballot boxes, which are the true representative of the will of the people.‖ HM King Abdullah in a speech on Tuesday 23rd, 2012.
The King’s speech was quite interesting, and I recommend people read the full transcript (video). There was a great deal of focus on the elections. While these kind of speeches tend to say the right thing, words have never been the state’s biggest problem when it comes to reforming.
In any case, the above part of the King’s speech is what threw me off a bit as it seems to be a recognition that something is essentially wrong with the Elections Law. If this is the case, then it makes me wonder if this is just another way of saying: we know there’s something wrong with the law, but let’s have an election anyway and you can “develop” it when you get elected.
If the flaws of the election law, as most political critics have framed it, is destined to yield “more of the same”, then we are essentially engaging in an exercise that will give us a very similar parliament, and it is this parliament that is expected to change the electoral law that brought them in to power. This is of course no different than the 2010 parliament being used to change the 2010 electoral law. And now the 2013 parliament is expected to amend the 2012 election law that got them elected in the first place.
Working from under the Dome is ideal, but that depends on who the workers are, and more importantly, the law that hands them a seat in that chamber.
This was answered by the king in his most recent interview with Charlie rose. He said he knows the election law is not perfect, however, most of the Jordanian people are ok with it. The king added that the law should not be tailored to the wishes of one party…