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Jordan: Political Apathy Threatens Polls
Real estate news By Mohammad Ben Hussein
Friday, October 05, 2007
As Jordan prepares for general elections this fall, vote-rigging allegations that surrounded the July local polls could have a profound impact on voter turnout, with observers expecting wide-spread political apathy among the public, mainly in urban areas. If past municipal polls can be used as a window to look into the future of parliamentary elections, the picture does not look bright. Authorities recorded a dismal turnout in major cities such as Amman, Irbid and Zarqa, where the majority of the population lives, with voters barely exceeding 50 percent, even after extending the voting period.
Polling stations had to be opened for an extra day in the capital in order to bring the turnout up to the required 50%, in accordance with the law. The economic crisis hitting the country hard could be seen as one of the main reasons for the public’s reluctance to head to polling stations, as citizens scramble to make ends meet. Poverty has increased and living standards of hundreds of thousands have taken a nosedive, with the country suffering from high rates of unemployment and the cost of living skyrocketing. But, at the same time, observers believe lack of trust between the public and the government, which has been brewing for years, was the main catalyst for the lack of turnout, as citizens have lost faith in the democratic process.
"What happened during the past polls was a striking example of a growing sense of alienation and political apathy among various groups of society. People no longer trust in this democratic process as they feel the government does what it wants, without considering people's concerns," said Faris Breizat, from the Strategic Centre at the University of Jordan. In rural areas voters showed a reasonably high turnout, but that was hardly because of political orientation or ideological beliefs; it was purely a tribally influenced vote. The most striking example was in Wadi Araba, 300 km east of Amman, where the voter turnout exceeded 90%. The town is home to three tribes with a population of fewer than 1,000.
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