520 |
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|b The parliament is a major decision-making institution in Jordan. It bears a great responsibility in raising the level of political will to achieve the public demands for reform. The people are awaiting its capability to retain its role by means of monitoring, legislation and fighting corruption. If the principles of democracy, equality and justice, the parliament will restore its public confidence. \ To discuss the election results and the parliament’s part in political and economic reform, the Middle East Studies Center based in Amman organized a political salon hosting a number of experts and politicians. They argued that almost all Jordanian political, social and other civil groups agree that the law, stag and procedures of the elections had not been satisfactory enough to the various parties with regard to the outcomes. Nevertheless, if some reasonable political, economic and social reform is \ accomplished by the 17th term, confidence may be regained in the legislators and state institutions. Furthermore, the gathering proposed direct national dialogue between political parties and actual decision-makers, along with keeping peaceful public pressure for the just demands of reform. \ In a relevant matter, the Middle East Institute of Washington held a symposium on the details of the election process and the subsequent challenges. One of the several observations referred to the absence of genuine political competition based on programmes, mainly with the boycott of the Islamists. Moreover, the monitoring of the elections usually encompasses 3 major parts, namely: public interaction and the improvement of procedures in contrast with the previous balloting; its integrity and transparency; and its influence on the political scene. The \ regime seems to have made some progress in the first and second \ points, but nothing in the last one.
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