Jordan- Ministerial panel to revisit Elections Law

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Tuesday formed a ministerial committee tasked with amending the Elections Law.

The premier's decision, made during yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting, came in the wake of His Majesty King Abdullah's decision last week to dissolve the Lower House.

The committee, which will be headed by Dahabi, also includes ministers of interior, media affairs and communications, legal affairs, parliamentary affairs and political development.

According to the government, the committee will soon begin revisiting the current Elections Law and administrative divisions as a step towards amending the controversial law, which has been for the past few years subject to a nationwide debate that yielded no tangible results.

King Abdullah instructed the government last week to amend the Elections Law in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In a letter to Dahabi, the King stressed that these elections "should be a model of transparency, fairness and integrity, and a promising step in our process of reform and modernization, the aims of which are to achieve the best for our nation and to expand the horizon of progress and prosperity for Jordanians".

"In order to achieve this objective, we hereby give you the responsibility of taking the necessary steps, foremost of which is amending the Elections Law," the King said.

He also directed the government to develop the electoral process "in such a manner that the next legislative elections will be qualitatively improved and all Jordanians will practice their right to campaign and to elect their representatives in Parliament".

The government is authorized to enact temporary laws under Article 94 of the Constitution, which stipulates: "In cases where the National Assembly is not sitting or is dissolved, the Council of Ministers has, with the approval of the King, the power to issue provisional laws covering matters which require necessary measures which admit of no delay or which necessitate expenditures incapable of postponement. Such provisional laws, which shall not be contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, shall have the force of law, provided that they are placed before the Assembly at the beginning of its next session."

By Hani Hazaimeh