Throughout Jordan, street signs have been replaced by beaming campaign posters and car parks filled with rows of seats for rallies. Campaigning reached its peak on Sunday night before lapsing into an enforced silence in preparation for Tuesday’s polls, which will be different from other elections in the kingdom’s recent past. Jordan made significant changes to its electoral law this year, replacing a controversial one-person-one-vote system with a list-based system designed to encourage political parties. As a result, key opposition groups that previously boycotted the election, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are back.
It is a major development at a time when regional wars, an ever-growing refugee crisis and a struggling economy have all converged to threaten Jordan’s stability. Government spokesman Mohammad Momani has said the 2016 vote would be “historic by all means”.
On the streets, however, the response has been muted. For decades, Jordan’s elections have been greeted with apathy, as parliament’s failure to challenge government policies has fostered frustration among voters.
Most recently, representatives passed a motion increasing the powers of the king, and in 2013 they failed to select a prime minister despite the king’s request that they do so. In past elections, voter turnout has hovered around 55 percent.
Full Article: Jordan set for ‘historic’ vote – News from Al Jazeera.