Analysts cautiously welcome elections bill, parties dissatisfied
Political analysts on Wednesday cautiously welcomed the new parliamentary elections law as a step in the right direction.
For their part, however, political parties expressed dismay that the law lacks the closed proportional list at the national level, a key demand they have made sure to communicate to lawmakers, but to no avail.
On Tuesday, the Lower House passed the 2015 elections law based on an at-large voting system in which candidates can run for parliamentary elections on one large multi-member ticket at the district level.
In a telephone interview with The Jordan Times, Oraib Rentawi of Al Quds Centre for Political Studies said the new law is a "step forward but will not achieve a breakthrough towards the envisioned parliamentary governments".
"It is good that the new law completely buried the decades-long one-person, one-vote electoral system, but it will not bring a politicised Parliament capable of forming parliamentary governments," Rantawi said.
He added that the new law could have been better worded to enhance partisan action, explaining that both the government and the House have turned a deaf ear to political parties' and think tanks' recommendations.
"In general, abolishing the one-person, one-vote electoral system is a good achievement, but we are still moving very slowly on the path of reform."
