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On September 29 2016, the MESC held an open symposium on Jordan’s General Election 2016: What’s Next. It was chaired by Director General Jawad Al-Hamad, and the discussion was joined by a host of elected MP’s and other Jordanian academics and politicians. There were four main topics: Parliament’s national priorities, its control and legislative roles, economic and legislative reform and the relationship with the executive power. Firstly, the participants commended the 18th general elections, as they constituted a quantum leap in the national political landscape. For instance, the Islamic Action Front of the opposition took part after 8 years of abstention. It was also a good chance to present a model of reform away from the Arab Spring stage, so that an end could be put to the current political freeze. Moreover, progress could be made towards further public participation and societal unity. Secondly, in terms of priorities, the guests urged the MP’s to seek the restoration of public confidence in the institution through the parliament’s better performance. Active blocs can be formed on the basis of inclusive solid national programmes to counter the internal and external challenges. Thirdly, they called on the new parliament to exercise political and administrative control over the government’s performance, conduct serious exploration of corruption and enhance cross-national co-existence. They also stressed reviewing the assembly’s statute; focusing on political issues as municipal councils are available to provide logistic services; consolidating the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary; and building a joint strategy with the executive power to face the challenges. Finally, the assembly was recommended to take the initiative of constructing a cross-national will which would unify around common interests and, thus, come up with a strong state of the nation. In addition, MP's were urged to abandon their personal interests towards institutional action which produces a capable parliament in the face of the internal and external challenges and puts an end to the current tension in the kingdom. If this is realized, the country could overcome the crisis of the entire region.
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