Jordan flag Jordan: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Jordan

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
King: Abdullah II (since 7 February 1999) – hereditary
Prime Minister: Bisher Al-Khasawneh (since 12 October 2020)
Next Election Dates
House of Representatives: 2024
Main Political Parties
Jordan is an absolute monarchy and the parliament maintains a limited role in the governance of the country. Political parties were not legalised in the country until 1992. The Islamic Action Front (IAF), a right-wing opposition force and a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, dominates political spheres and obtained 15 seats in the 2016 elections, after having boycotted the previous two in 2010 and 2013, but only 5 seats at the latest 2020 election. Jordanian politics tend to be influenced by tribal or familial politics rather than by formal political parties. Indeed, at the 2020 general election, wealthy business executives and tribal independents dominated, while strong, reform-oriented members of parliament lost their seats. Broader-based coalitions fared poorly. Less than 10% of the 130 members of the parliament belong to political parties. The most influential opposition party, the IAF, lost almost half of its seats.

Some major parties include:

- Islamic Centrist Party: centre, moderate, promotes social reform
- Zamzam: centre-right, Islamic democracy
- National Current Party: centre, nationalist.

Executive Power
The head of state is the King. The monarchy is hereditary. The King enjoys executive powers. The King signs and executes all laws. He appoints and dismisses all judges by decree, approves amendments to the constitution and has the right to declare war. The King appoints the Prime Minister as head of the government, having no fixed term of office. The cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, is appointed by the King.
Legislative Power
The legislature is bicameral in Jordan. Its parliament consists of: the Senate having 65 members who are appointed by the King to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives having 130 members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The King’s power of veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the National Assembly.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
129/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: April 2024