Candidate numbers fall to 763 in final tally

By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - A total of 763 candidates will run for the 120 seats of the Lower House of Parliament in next Tuesday’s elections after 87 withdrew, according to the final list of candidates issued Monday.

Women make up 134 of the remaining candidates and nine of those who withdrew, Elections Director at the Ministry of Interior Saad Shihab told The Jordan Times yesterday.

Monday was the deadline for candidates to announce their decision to withdraw from their races, Shihab said. As of today, candidates are no longer allowed to withdraw.

In an interview with The Jordan Times yesterday, Shihab said the Ministry of Interior and the Central Elections Committee have finished all preparations for the elections.

He said the 1,492 polling centers across the Kingdom will be connected through a network that will allow the ministry to follow the voting process electronically on computer monitors.

“We have 13 monitors connected with the country’s 12 governorates and the badia,” Shihab explained yesterday, adding that whenever a voter casts a ballot at any polling center, his or her name will appear on the relevant monitor.

Each monitor contains a map of the governorate or region, their main districts, cities and neighborhoods, along with the names of the members of their elections committees.

He also noted that a special committee headed by Governor Walid Abeda has been formed to count the votes cast for women candidates and announce the winners of the 12 seats allocated for women.

Polling centers will open on November 9 at 7:00am and will close the same day at 7:00pm, but heads of the governorates’ committees are authorized to extend voting by up to two hours if needed.

After the polls close, the committees in each governorate will report their results to the central committee, and Minister of Interior Nayef Qadi will announce the final results at a press conference.

The results should be announced within 48 hours after the end of the voting, Shihab said.

Also Monday, Prime Minister Samir Rifai urged teachers, preachers and clerics to play an active role in raising public awareness on the importance of participating in the elections, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Addressing teachers and clerics at a meeting held to emphasize their role in the elections, he said: “You have a key role in preparing citizens, especially the young, to shoulder their responsibility for the future.”

The premier noted that 50 per cent of Jordanians are below the age of 18, stressing that today’s decisions will have a major impact on their future.

“We consider you as main partners in efforts to raise awareness among young people on the importance of choosing deputies with high political and social understanding and who are capable of conveying their problems to the Parliament,” he said.

Rifai added that the elections should be viewed as a means for change towards a better future.

Speaking at the meeting, several teachers and clerics reiterated that participation in the elections is a national and a religious duty, expressing appreciation for the measures the government has taken to guarantee free and fair elections.

2 November 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=31482.