The 'high density districts' elections crisis

Densely populated areas in Amman, Zarqa, and to some extent in Irbid face a crisis in the anticipated elections with regards to legislation, representation, registration and voting. There’s something close to a heated internal conflict in the circles of elites and activists in these districts. On the one hand, they realise the size of political and socio-economic marginalisation of their districts. On the other, they do not find motivation in the current election law to call people to register their names and participate. On the one hand, they’re not enthusiastic about calls for boycott, and they know well the significance of “absence” and “distancing”, but on the other hand they barely find justifications to convince people to go out of their homes to registration and polling stations. I have closely touched on this bottleneck in a number of meetings with the organisations and activists of these districts. Reading the previous legislative election in 2010, it appears that Al-Rasifa and four of Amman’s electoral districts recorded the lowest turnout (less than 30 percent) in the kingdom. This is half the general national average, assuming the accuracy and integrity of official figures, and it barely comes close to one third of the proximity ratio in tribal density areas. This is an unusual and exceptional situation which we know the reasons and factors causing but at the same time refuse to accept or allow it to continue. In the fervour of registrations for the 2012 elections, the government – late as usual for our successive governments and in a way that reproduces the 1997 elections experiment – realised the need of the inhabitants of these areas to register their names on election lists today and vote the next day. It is not worried about the low percentages of registration and voting in tribal regions, as there is enough motivation for citizens to leave their homes and head to registration and polling stations. Rather, the government is worried about the objections of Jordanians of Palestinian origin who usually show less enthusiasm for the elections and who are prone today – more than ever before - to the influences of boycott campaigns. This time, as in past times, the bet is on horses that look like “municipality horses”, some of which need mercy bullets and some of which do not arouse enthusiasm for any cause except feelings of doubt and scepticism in the targeted categories for their bankruptcy and lack of seriousness and honesty. This means that the results of government campaigns in these regions are almost known beforehand. Days ago I was at a seminar with more than 50 persons in Al-Rasifa brigade. Most of the attendees do not want a boycott and do not entirely approve of it (although they are not a representative sample of the brigade anyway) but at the same time, they are not showing enthusiasm for participation either. They have a long list of complaints and injustices revolving in the overall around “abandonment”, “forgetfulness”, “discrimination” and “marginalisation and in almost all fields". The brigade where more than half a million live is represented in the parliament by two people, although with equality and “equal citizenship” measures, would have deserved a dozen of MPs and with fair measures no less than five MPs. Reform activists in these circles are confused between two things: if they call for participation, they would prove that they are a passive bloc sufficing with what government offers of the “remains of representation and participation” and would be sending the wrong message of participating under all circumstances, regardless of the pity or unfair laws. They would be saying “we are the guaranteed bloc in the pocket”. If they call for boycott, however, and respond to its campaigns, they lose a chance to mobilise the public in their electoral districts to raise their voice and call for their rights and effective participation. The government by insisting to impose its own law for elections, and we say their “own” despite our awareness of the constitutional mechanisms of approving laws, makes the mission of elites and activists in these districts very difficult. Their mission becomes even more difficult and complicated when they see the “winning horses” of the government motivating people to register and vote. No one wants to be in one group with these, no one wants to gamble with their credibility. When highly credible political and civil entities take steps to open the files of participation and boycott with the inhabitants of these regions, in a reasonable and balanced language, away from flagrant publicity, the intensive security presence in the meeting and seminar halls reflects the government’s insistence on its security approach. This alone suffices to obstruct any sincere effort aimed at promoting effective participation. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.