Jordanian parliament agrees on election supervision

The Jordanian parliament The Jordanian parliament has agreed the law of establishing an independent board for elections supervision, which is considered by many observers as a main step to guarantee fair elections in Jordan. Meanwhile, the parliament has refused the resignation of MP Anwar al-Ajarma, who decided to donate his wage as an MP ($ 5000 US monthly) to the Jordanian national treasury as compensation for the nation\'s loss over the so-called phosphates privatisation case.
The law, which was agreed yesterday by parliament, included a framework for the establishment of an independent board to supervise the elections. The board which must be totally independent in its financial and administrative dealings, will be oversee all the election rounds and procedures.
According to Article No 25 of the law,  \"the board\'s financial issues are subject to the National Auditing Agency\'s supervision, while every board member must declare their personal finances.\"  While Article No 13 stated that the board\'s decisions will be based on the majority of four members, and that members don\'t have the right to abstain from voting\".
On the other hand, the parliament has turned down the resignation of MP Anwar al-Ajarma, which was submitted on the back of the MP\'s rejection to the parliament\'s position towards the phosphate privatisation case.  In response, al-Ajarma offered to donate his wage ($ 5000 monthly) to the national treasury \"as compensation for the national loss in this deal\".
Commenting on this issue, MP Faisal al-Fayez, said:  \"I was honoured to lead this parliament for a year now, and  I firmly believe that it includes some of the most honourable and efficient citizens in this country, but I think there is a very strong campaign aimed at ruining this Parliament\'s reputation\", adding that \"the minority must respect the majority\'s choices, as our differences in opinion have nothing to do with our mutual respect, and should not prevent us from working together to achieve our national goals.\"
Earlier, 10 parliament members joined al-Ajarma in offering their resignation,  in a plan that was to see 24 resignations among the parliamentary members, but al-Ajarma was the only MP not to reverse his decision, while the other members to compose a \"reform coalition\" of 33 members within the parliament instead.