Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 26)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 26)
- المحتوى
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Elections in Jordan
Far from being a move towards democracy, the coming elections in
Jordan are part of the regime’s plan to usurp the PLO’s representa-
tion, while marginalizing the internal opposition.
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King Hussein reconvenes the parliament in 1984, try
o steal Palestinian representation from the PLO.
crystallizing in
In 1974, the Arab summit in Rabat
adopted the historical resolution
recognizing the PLO as the sole
legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people. The Jordanian
regime was thus forced to yield to this
undisputed fact, but the bitterness of
this defeat never stopped it from at-
tempting to reimpose itself as represen-
tative of the Palestinian people.
After the 1974 Rabat Summit deci-
sion, the Jordanian regime dissolved
the Jordanian Chamber of Deputies
(parliament). The chamber, elected in
1967, represented the population of the
West Bank and Jordan. Ten years later,
in 1984, the regime revived the
seventeen-year-old chamber. In
suspending the parliament for ten
26
years,-the regime had referred to two
reasons: first, the occupation of the
West Bank; and second, a legal reason,
the Rabat decision. However, ten years
later these two reasons are still alive.
Neither has the occupation ended, nor
has the PLO ceased being the Palesti-
nian people’s sole legitimate represen-
tative.
Following the Jordanian regime’s
decision to revive the chamber, byelec-
tions were held in 1984 to elect
representatives to replace those who
had died. In 1986, the regime issued a
new election law.
So, what had changed since 1974 to
make the regime enact these steps?
The answer to this question lies in the
developments that have taken place in
the region in the interceding period:
Egypt’s peace with ‘Israel’, Camp
David, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon,
the decline in official Arab policies and
the Palestinian right wing’s betting on
US-sponsored solutions, as with the
now defunct Amman accord - in short,
the increased tilt in the balance of
forces in the region in favor of the im-
perialist-Zionist-reactionary alliance.
This tilt gave the Jordanian regime a
suitable chance to exploit new channels
for pursuing its capitulationist policy,
‘confederal’
Palestinian-Jordanian work (en-
couraged by the rightist trend in the
PLO), the plans for joint administra-
tion of the 1967 occupied territories
with the Zionist state, the ‘develop-
ment’ plan for the territories and finally
the new election law.
In the new election law of 1986, the
regime’s aims are obvious. The new law
states that both the West Bank and the
Palestinian camps in Jordan will be
represented in the new chamber as
electoral districts. The West Bank
deputies will be appointed by Palesti-
nians elected in Jordan. This Jordanian
move comes at a time when extensive
efforts and contacts are being made by
the regime to give momentum to the US
solution in the region, which was
faltering after the suspension of
Jordanian-Palestinian talks in
February 1986. The regime’s efforts are
directed towards two main goals: First,
it is seeking to pave the way for direct
negotiations with ‘Israel’? under a
suitable international umbrella. Se-
cond, it is seeking to create a Palesti-
nian leadership that would cooperate
with the joint Israeli-Jordanian ad-
ministration of the occupied territories.
UNDEMOCRATIC LAW
In addition to the regime’s goals in
enacting this law, the law itself is a step
backwards in comparison with the 1960
election law. The new law not only
discriminates between regions in terms
of the representation allotted to pro-
vinces and camps, it also includes
religious and ethnic discrimination.
(Nine seats are allotted for Christians
and three for ethnic groups.) The pro-
vince of Amman, for example, contains
41% of Jordan’s population, but its
representation is limited to 21 seats - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 25
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