Jordanians will head to the polls on January 23 amid controversy Amman – Osama Al Rantissi The Jordanian government and Salafist elements within the country clashed on Sunday over upcoming January 23 elections, declaring their opposing concepts of democracy. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour has said “the ballot box is the only route,” and jihadi Salafist leader Abdu Shahadah, known as Abu Muhammad al-Tahawi branded democracy “sinful.”
Speaking at a meeting with women's groups at the Royal Cultural Centre in Amman, Jordanian Prime Minister Ensour claimed that “parliament is where decisions are made and where change is instigated,” calling on those who desire change to vote on election day "even if they hold a view that runs counter to the law.”
"In today's world, peoples and states live by democracy, which is run through the polling boxes that have become a mark of the 21st century," Ensour said. “A party or a societal class should not dream of reaching power by any route other than that of the ballot box."
The Prime Minister meanwhile confirmed the government's "pledge and commitment" to holding an "absolutely free and fair election, in accordance with His Majesty the King's wishes." He also vowed that the government and other authorities "will not interfere" in the elections. Only the Independent Electoral Committee would be responsible for polling, Ensour added.
“There can no longer be a crisis between cabinets and parliament,” the PM said. “The separation of powers as set in the constitution must be asserted.”
Condemning what is known locally as "political money," or bribery in return for votes, Ensour called the practice a "political crime" which "tarnishes a free and fair poll," threatening heavy penalties against those found guilty of it.
The weeks leading up to the election represented a “crucial juncture in Jordan's political history," Ensour claimed, meanwhile calling for a "true Jordanian stand" at the polls.
Addressing the assembly of women’s organisations, PM Ensour celebrated the current quota of female MPs as a “Jordanian success story," calling on women to participate in legislative elections in order to defend the rights of women nationwide.
"It is unacceptable for the role of women in the job market to be so limited at a time when we in Jordan have the highest rate of female education in the Arab World, one of the highest rates of education in the world, the highest number of universities in the Arab World and the highest rate of female enrolment in these university with even more female students than male, he said," he said.
Meanwhile Al-Tahawi, jihadi and Salafist, expounded the view that the democratic principle of "the rule of the people by the people" violates God's law. “Only God rules and not the people,” he said.
Describing the legislative elections as a violation of Islam and “sinful,” al-Tahawi criticised campaign platforms saying they are "slogans that can never be applied on the ground because the member of parliament is helpless."
Calling for an election boycott based on religious prohibitions, al-Tahawi said that the results were "known before the fact, no matter how many claims to fairness the government makes."