Jordan’s tryst with democracy

NUMBERS

•Of Jordan’s 5.6 people, 2.4 million are registered voters aged over 18, although at least 1,00,000 members of the security forces are barred from voting

•885 candidates, including 199 women, competing for seats spread over 45 constituencies

•12 seats are reserved for minority Christians and Circassians and six for the top-polling women candidates

•Many of Jordan’s 5.6 million citizens are Palestinians, whose families settled after successive Arab-Israeli wars

TURNOUT

•Traditionally stronger in rural and tribal areas. Multi-member constituencies are structured so that urban areas have far fewer MPs per voter than the countryside

•Voting by mainly urban Palestinians, who form a large part of the population, was particularly low in the last election in 2003

POLITICAL PARTIES

•Only a handful of candidates are campaigning under political party banners. The rest are independents, mainly pro-government figures

•The 2007 campaign has accentuated the rise of businessmen using their money to seek election to political posts.

OPPOSITION PARTIES

•The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, commands strong support in the cities, especially in Palestinian areas, and also in tribal areas

•The IAF is the only group publicly opposing an Arab-Israeli settlement that would bar the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in present-day Israel