Jordanians call for reforms, boycott of parliamentary elections

Jordanians have staged mass anti-government rallies in the capital, Amman, calling for political reforms and a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman on Friday, just five days before elections, to urge citizens to boycott the polls scheduled for January 23. They also demand that King Abdullah II cede some of his powers and give parliament more say in the country.

“We reject cosmetic elections and schemes against our demands for reform,” read a banner carried by the demonstrators in Jabal Hussein, close to central Amman.

“The people want to warn the regime, the people want to reform the regime. (King) Abdullah, Jordanians are burning themselves and the regime does not care,” the demonstrators chanted.

“Freedom, freedom. This is not a royal gift, but our right.”

Similar anti-election protests were also held in the southern cities of Karak and Ma’an.

Over two million Jordanians are eligible to vote in next week’s polls, in which 1,500 candidates will run for 150 seats in the lower house of parliament. It will be the first time that Jordan’s prime minister will emerge from among the winning candidates, rather than by appointment by the king.

But, activists claim the electoral law favors tribal regime loyalists at the expense of political parties and that the polls are already marred by voter fraud and “vote buying,” with candidates allegedly offering as much as 1,200 dollars for a single vote.

Jordanian king dissolved parliament and called early elections in October 2012 in response to growing calls for political reforms and the end to corruption.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition movement, and many other parties have called for the boycott of the elections in protest at constituency boundaries which they say are unfair.