Monarchical governance in Jordan – World Countries for Kids
Jordan is a monarchy in which the monarch plays a dominant role in both politics and governance. Lower house of the parliament is elected, but the electoral system and restrictions on civil liberties put the opposition at a considerable disadvantage; the chamber wields very little power in practice. The media and civil society groups are hindered by restraining laws and government pressure. The judicial system lacks freedom and very often fails to ensure due process.
King Abdullah II, Jordan’s hereditary monarch, holds broad executive powers. He appoints and dismisses PM and cabinet, besides several other positions such as the crown prince and a regent and may even dissolve the bicameral National Assembly at his will. On 10th September 2024, Jordan held parliamentary elections against the background of unprecedented regional and domestic challenges, including the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, a waning public trust in state institutions, and constitutional amendments perceived as empowering the Royal Court and sidelining the government.
The elections saw widespread voter indifference, with initial official figures showing a turnout of paltry 32 percent among 5.1 million eligible voters—somewhat higher than the 29 percent turnout in the 2020 elections which were viewed as undemocratic. The low voter participation mirrors widespread public dissatisfaction with the dire economic situation and mounting prices in Jordan, where young people—who make up 2/3rd of the population—have been particularly affected. Unemployment is in the excess of 21 percent, and a whopping 48 percent of citizens are considering exiting the country, one of the highest rates among all Arab nations. A recent opinion poll further exposed the fact that Jordanians have very low trust in political institutions, particularly the parliament and government, with merely 16 percent expressing strong confidence in parliament and paltry 37 percent in the government.
Islamists’ Strong Showing
The political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Action Front Party, emerged as the largest bloc in the Jordanian parliament, defying all expectations. The election results showed that the Islamic Action Front Party secured 22.5 percent of the seats (31 out of 138). Of these, fourteen seats were won through local lists and seventeen through party lists. In stark contrast, other parties, such as the Al-Mithaq Al-Watani (National Charter) Party and the Al-Irada Party—both closely aligned with the authorities—failed to achieve any significant results on the party lists, collectively securing just forty seats, primarily from local lists. The Islamic Action Front had won merely ten seats in 2020 and fifteen seats in 2016, out of a total of 130 seats.