Jordanian election candidates double

The number of candidates in the second day of registration for the parliamentary elections due to be held on January 23 in Jordan has doubled to 1048 candidates, including 130 women. The spokesman of the Independent Elections Commission (IEC), Hussein Bani Hani confirmed that the total number of the national electoral lists registered in the past two days reached 34 general lists with 484 candidates, including 45 women, while the number of the candidates of the local constituencies reached 564 candidates, including 85 women. Bani Hani added that the number of lists registered in the second day of registrations reached 15 list and 91 candidates, including 12 women. He added that according to the election law for the year 2012, the IEC has a week to consider all the applications for candidacy. Bani Hani added that under the law there will be no extension in the process of candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary elections, hoping to complete the process by the end of Monday, so that the commission can count the final number of lists and candidates in local constituencies.On the other side, a study conducted by Al-Hayat Centre for Civil Society Development said that the expected turnout in the parliamentary elections 2013 will be (47.6 percent) while the percentage of citizens reluctant to vote is (21.2 percent). The study conducted by the Centre in collaboration with international partners to explore the trends of the Jordanian society regarding the political parties and political knowledge and orientations of the participants in the elections, confirmed that the highest participation rate expected in the Kingdom will be in the Mafraq Governorate by (73.3 percent) and the lowest expected percentage of the turnout will be in the capital Amman by (25.6 percent).