• The People of Prince Hassan's Camp and Jabal Al Nasr confirm that the performance of successive parliaments has exacerbated abstention.

Al Quds Center for Political Studies has organized a dialogue session titled "The Results of the 2024 Elections … How do We Build on Achievements? And What Roles should Political Parties and Representatives Play to Enhance Participation?" The session was held at the Prince Hassan's Camp Services Committee, and featured the partisan activist and politician Daher Amro and the former Member of Parliament Dr. Mustafa Yaghi.

The Executive Director of Al Quds Center, Ms. Hala Salem, began the session with welcoming remarks during which she explained the reasons for organizing it. The session marked the conclusion of a series of similar sessions held by the center in regions with lower voter turnout and lower engagement in public and political life. She further explained that these sessions aimed to encourage people to participate in the elections, and assess the electoral experience and its results, particularly the results achieved by political parties and the electoral constituencies with the lowest voter turnout. Salem stressed the importance of understanding the citizens' stance on the elections and their results, as well as their opinions, as these play a crucial role in determining the priorities of elected members of parliament in light of the regional challenges facing Jordan.

During his intervention, Mr. Daher Amro mentioned the troubled regional environment and the importance of national unity in addressing the threats facing both Jordan and Palestine. He highlighted that the priority of political parties and members of parliament is to support and strengthen the official Jordanian position.

Regarding the political parties' experience in Jordan, he mentioned the formation of the Al Hayat Party, which later merged with the Al Mustaqbal Party to create the Al Hayat wa Al Mustaqbal Party. He pointed out that the number of political parties began to increase significantly in 2007, when funding and criteria for forming political parties were established. He further noted that these criteria do not enhance political activism. Regarding the Political Parties Law of 2022, Amro stated that the best feature of the law is the Royal Guarantee.

On his part, Dr. Mustafa Yaghi focused on voter turnout, highlighting that it remains modest. He called on citizens to support members of parliament, rather than pressuring them with service requests, which limit their legislative and monitoring roles and allow for greater government intrusion. Yaghi further discussed the role of closed electoral lists in enhancing collective activism and providing opportunities for women and youth to reach parliament by dedicating advanced positions to them in these lists—something that might not be possible with open lists.

Participants' interventions centered on the need to raise awareness about the legislative role of representatives, rather than their service-providing role. In this context, participants called on the Prince Hassan's Camp Services Committee to improve water services. They also mentioned the use of dark money in elections. Participants also emphasized that the poor performance of successive parliaments is one of the main reasons for abstention.  

The President of the Prince Hassan's Camp Services Committee, Zeyad Salman, welcomed the participants and, in his remarks, highlighted the challenges facing Jordan, as well as the aggression on the Gaza Strip. He urged participants to support Jordan's position and praised the Royal Grant for funding the construction of the Camp Services Committee to better serve the camp's residents.