by Khaled Neimat | Jul 09, 2012 | JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — Opposition leaders have suggested that parliamentary elections be delayed until next year, so that the government will have time to draft a new elections law acceptable by all.

They made the remarks as political powers were still internally discussing their final stance on whether to boycott or participate in the upcoming elections, expected to be held before the end of this year.

The Lower House on Sunday endorsed an amended version of the 2012 Elections Law, raising the number of House seats allocated for the national list to 27.

A majority of MPs voted in favour of the government’s amendments, under which the number of seats allocated for the closed proportional list at the national level was raised to 27 instead of 17 as stipulated in the previous version.

The legislation adopts a mixed electoral system that features a majority vote at the district level and a closed proportional list at the national level, which are open to all citizens and political parties.

The opposition on Monday said the amendment was far below expectation, warning against increased tension in the country.

Deputy overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Zaki Bani Rsheid told The Jordan Times over the phone Monday that there was a crucial need to consider postponing the elections.

“Maybe shifting it to next year would be an appropriate choice,” he added.

The Islamist movement will hold meetings among it leaders over the next few days to take action over the issue, with expectations that they would boycott the elections.

The Islamists have called for abolishing the one-person, one-vote formula and adopting an elections law based on a mixed electoral formula, with 50 per cent of the seats for the local districts and the same number for the proportional list at the national level.

Brotherhood and Islamic Action Front leaders have charged that the new law reinstates the one-person, one-vote system by giving only one vote at the district level.

Akram Homsi, secretary general of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, agreed with Bani Rsheid, saying that postponing the elections “would be a better choice at this stage, particularly with the prospects of the ongoing violence in Syria and the dramatic change of power in Egypt”.

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