The Dissolvement of Parliament of Jordan

Less than half way of the usual term for the elected Jordanian MPs, Jordan's HM King Abdulla II has disolved the Jordanian Parliament sending the deputies packing. The Royal Decree was issued on Monday 22nd Nov, only three days before the islamic feast (Eid Al-Adha), which was recived by the majority of Jordanian public as a feast gift due to the bad performance of the 15th Parliament of Jordan performance in the last 2 years. The decree was short and precise. It dissolved parliament according to the power given to the King in the constitution, and was followed by another decree calling for new elections.

This was the first time in the Jordanian democratic history the monarchy was forced to interfere in such a way and ordered the dissolvement of the Jordanian Parliament apparently for well valid reasons.

Jordanian analysts and columnists were quick to point out or guess those reasons for which the parliament was dissolved. Some say it was weak, corrupt and did not fulfil its duties and obligations towards the six-million citizens population whom are suffering from both poverty and unemployment, and hungry for political openness and tangible reforms.

The sheer joy by the majority of citizens was expressed after hearing the news about the dissolvement of Jordanian Parliament by many ways. The news websites were bombarded with joyful comments by Jordanians, thanking the king for "getting rid of a parasite that afflicted the country and wasted its resources. One happy commentator wrote (The outgoing parliament was very unpopular. A recent poll by the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan on the performance of the House of Representatives showed that 71 % of opinion leaders in Jordan were unhappy with the performance of the current parliament since the day it was elected, while only 29% said they were "satisfied").

42 % of respondents to this poll supported dissolving the council before the end of it's term. 89% of leaders of political parties in the Parliament of Jordan were dissatisfied with the deputies performance due to lack of experience and the bad outcome of the last elections.

It is widely believed among the public that the elections were manipulated. Many incidents of votes-buying and multiple voting were witnessed by Jordanians, who already were skeptical of the dissolved Jordanian Parliament's ability to carry out its tasks and fulfil its obligations towards the public and the nation.

The elections which were held in November 2007, produced a traditional tribal parliament with the one-man, one-vote election system pressuring Jordanians into choosing a family member and hendering any efforts for a politically diverse house.

The dissolved Jordanian Parliament was 15th since the resumption of political life in 1989, was set to face a myriad of contentious political and economic issues starting with rising prices and the troubled neighbourhoods in bordering Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.

Most of the parliament members were shallow in their thinking; they only focussed on services and shew away from pressing issues local, regional and international. It was keen on achieving personal gains for deputies, starting with thier salaries and benefits ending with custom-exempted cars. The dissolvement of the Jordanian Parliament opens the door wide for various changes that Jordanians have hoped for as expected by many politicians.