AMMAN — The government on Tuesday labelled the municipal elections a success despite the low turnout.
Officials said the overall number of the voters across the Kingdom reached around 880,000 out of the 2.357 million registered for the polls, or 37.3 per cent approximately.
A noticeably low participation rate was recorded in Amman, where only 10.5 per cent of eligible voters participated in the polls.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference held by Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri and Interior Minister Hussein Majali.
However, the officials said pre-election reports showed that the voting rate would not exceed 6-7 per cent in Amman and 15 per cent in the rest of the Kingdom. They highlighted that the results were better than the forecasts.
Majali said that in Amman, 139,000 citizens cast their votes out of the 1.35 million registered voters.
Acknowledging that several technical flaws occurred during the voting process, Masri stressed that they had no impact on the overall election process, adding that the authorities are launching an investigation after a group of people “stole” two ballot boxes and damaged other boxes in the election centre in Faqou, in Karak, around 130km south Amman.
“We will seek a legal consultation on this issue and a decision will be issued later,” he said, not ruling out the possibility that re-elections may be held in the town.
Such incidents had a “minimal impact” on the polls, Masri added, commending police for their swift and proper responses to incidents and violations witnessed in some parts of the country.
According to voters’ lists issued by the Civil Status and Passports Department, 3.7 million citizens were eligible to take part in the elections, including 1.25 million members of the armed forces and the security agencies and public servants who were involved in conducting the elections.
“As an interior minister and a Jordanian citizen, I could say that low participation by political parties was a major reason behind the decline in participation in the polls,” Majali said, adding some local media outlets tried to discourage citizens from voting.
The largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, boycotted the elections.
The interior minister briefed reporters on the security situation in various parts of the country, saying: “Apart from what happened in Karak, the overall process was secure and no major incidents were reported.”
Out of the eligible voters, almost one million Jordanians could not cast their votes due to living overseas or being members in the military and security staff, who were previously ordered not to vote by their commanders, in addition to 40,000 citizens who were working in the municipalities helping supervise the elections.
Majali said these figures and statistics are not “frustrating”, rather, “they are normal and do not reflect the impact of any sort of boycott”.
According to the Municipal Affairs Ministry, the lowest turnout was registered in the Greater Amman Municipality districts.
The second lowest was in Zarqa, where 14.5 per cent of those eligible to vote took part in the polls.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in Aqaba, with almost 63 per cent casting their votes, out of the 17,652 registered voters.
On the sidelines of his visits to voting centres and the central operations room at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour commended the electoral process, saying: “While the region has been witnessing turmoil, we in Jordan should be proud that we have implemented two major democratic events [the parliamentary and the municipal elections] within the same year.”
The premier added that Jordan will continue with its political reform, as it is the only means to transform the country and ensure that democracy and public participation in the political process, and in the elections, are part of Jordanian society’s culture.
Ensour added that the government does not claim that the election results would be absolutely accurate, but the country will learn from any mistakes that might occur and will be able to address them in the future.
Meanwhile, the National Centre of Human Rights (NCHR) on Tuesday said several violations were reported and affected the voting process and obstructed some citizens from casting their votes.
The centre had formed a team of 80 observers to monitor the elections, with 50 of whom dispatched to the field across the Kingdom to document any violations that might undermine the electoral process.
However, the NCHR noted, in a statement issued Tuesday following the elections, that by and large, the elections were implemented in line with the relevant regulations and the authorities’ procedures to facilitate voters’ access to the voting centres were smooth and progressive.
Among the violations that were observed by the NCHR were attempts by some individuals in the southern governorate of Karak to bar voters from reaching voting centres. According to the centre, minor clashes erupted between supporters of two different candidates and several women wearing niqabs were able to cast their votes without verifying their identities, which may have resulted in repetitive votes.
The centre said it had notified the Ministry of Municipal Affairs with the violations immediately, adding that ministry officials were cooperative and took measures to address the violations wherever they were recorded.
by: Hani Hazaime & Khaled Neimat
