Cash-for-favours and tribal influence vie for Jordan\'s votes

Elections in Jordan to be in January 23 Amman – Osama Al Rantissi Despite the current wintry climate in Jordan, where snow is expected to fall in the next few days, candidates standing in the upcoming January 23 elections are keeping busy. Meet-the-candidate events and debates abound as tribal clusters and political money look set to influence results in the Kingdom’s 12 governorates.
This year’s elections will be held under the controversial law which gives each registered voter two votes: one for each of the 123 individual constituency candidates and another for 27-strong nationwide electoral lists.
Tribes have so far been able to impose their will in most constituencies, singling out preferred candidates before running a kind of internal preliminary election with local tribes, thereby agreeing to share seats.
All tribes represented in each constituency agree on a candidate from one tribe on the basis that the candidate in the next election will come from a different tribe. All voters are made to swear on the Koran that they will vote in accordance with the tribes\' wishes.
Candidates are also trying to attract support by pumping money into communities in the form of pre-purchased party memberships, job contracts and so-called “charity parcels.”
This system of cash-for-favours has been more noticeable in Jordan’s poorer areas. In some parts of the Mafraq governorate, 80 kilometres north of Amman, one candidate has distributed “charity parcels” including heaters, blankets and clothing to fend off the cold weather. This candidate is said to be collecting votes in an atmosphere described by one campaign manager as “characterized by disillusionment and a lack of interest.”
One citizen speaking to Arabstoday did not deny receiving such an offer. A candidate bought his whole family’s votes in return for “financial benefit.” Justifying the exchange the man said: \"No benefit comes from parliament.\"
In national list-based polls, a newly-formed party led by a businessman in the Irbid governorate has allegedly bought the membership of around 1,500 locals by offering employment contracts. The businessman allegedly accumulated votes in “an inconspicuous manner” after a law criminalising direct vote-buying.
The 2012 electoral law imposed a three to seven-year prison sentence for all forms of vote-buying. The penalty applies to cash as well as gifts and services rendered.
Jordan\'s Independent Electoral Commission [IEC] chief Abdul Ilah Khatib has admitted \"political money\" has been used throughout the electoral process and stressed the need for security authorities to pursue culprits and bring them to justice.