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Jordan Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Jordan
Official Name: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Capital: Amman
Area: 89,210 square kilometres ( 34,444 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Amman 1,187,000 (1995 estimate)
Az Zarqa’ 421,000 (1994 estimate)
Irbid 281,000 (1994 estimate)
Al-Aqabah 41,900 (1989 estimate)
Population: 5,439,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 4.9 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Constitutional monarchy
Independence: 25 May 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Constitution: 8 January 1952
Voting Rights: Universal at age 20
Government
King Hussein is the head of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and has wide-ranging powers. He must sign all laws before they become effective, and he appoints the prime minister and the Council of Ministers. The bicameral legislature comprises the 80-member House of Deputies, the lower house, which is elected for four-year terms; and the 30 member appointed House of Notables, the upper house. Citizens may vote at age 20, but members of the royal family may not vote. The 1993 elections were the first full multi-party elections since 1956.
Recent History
The area which is now Jordan was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918, when Arab forces supported by the United Kingdom overthrew the Turks in what was called the Great Arab Revolt. In 1922 the British created the emirate of Transjordan as a semi-autonomous region under the nominal rule of Abdullah ibn Husein. Over the years, the British gradually turned power over to local Arab officials, and in 1946 Transjordan became independent. In the 1948–1949 Arab-Israeli war, the Arab Legion, commanded by a British general known as Glubb Pasha (John Bagot Glubb), took central Palestine and expelled Jewish forces from Jerusalem. In 1949 Transjordan was renamed Jordan and in 1950 it annexed the West Bank.
In 1951 Abdullah was assassinated. His son Talal, who suffered from a mental disorder, was proclaimed king but was deposed by government officials. Talal’s 17-year-old son, Hussein, became the new Jordanian monarch and formally took power in 1953. Hussein proved an adept ruler. He dismissed Glubb, severed formal treaty ties with the UK survived several attempted coups, and still rules Jordan today. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel, and many Palestinian refugees from the West Bank fled to Jordan. Internal unrest and violence between the Jordanian government and Palestinian guerrillas erupted into civil war in September 1970. The Palestinian guerrilla resistance, known as the fedayeen, or “martyrs”, was defeated in 1971.
Until 1988, Jordan considered the people of the West Bank part of its population and provided for Palestinian representatives in the Jordanian parliament. The elected legislature had been dissolved in 1976 but was reconvened in 1984. In 1988 King Hussein announced the severance of all ties with the West Bank and ceded all claims to the territory to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This change of policy brought the dissolution of parliament again because many of its members represented the West Bank. Election laws were rewritten, elections for the new parliament were held in November 1989, and a new legislature was convened.
In 1992, political parties were legalized, and martial-law provisions that had existed since 1967 were lifted. Full multi-party elections took place in 1993 for the first time since 1966. More than 530 candidates contested 80 seats. Voter turnout was high and resulted in a woman being elected to parliament for the first time and a reduced number of seats for Islamic fundamentalists.
The strong showing of loyalist candidates demonstrated support for King Hussein and his participation in the Middle East peace process. A peace treaty with Israel was signed in October 1994. The treaty has remained in force, but relations between the Israeli and Jordanian governments became more strained after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of Israel’s right-wing Likud Party, was elected in May 1996 and the peace process with Palestinians and other neighbours suffered setbacks. March 1997 was marred with tragedy when a Jordanian soldier gunned down seven Israeli schoolgirls. King Hussein visited Israel soon after the killings and paid personal condolences to the victims’ families, reaffirming his own commitment to peace. The same month he swore in a new government led by Abdul-Salam Majali, who had negotiated and signed the 1994 peace treaty. King Hussein requested that Majali oversee 1997 parliamentary elections.
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