AMMAN, 25 October 2007 — Jordanian Interior Minister Eid Al-Fayez yesterday announced the approval of 997 candidates in the country’s parliamentary elections set for Nov. 20. The announcement gives the green light to candidates vying for the lower house of Parliament’s 110 seats to launch their election campaigns within three days in accordance with the Elections Law, officials said.
Fayez said that the elections’ Higher Committee, which he chairs, had rejected the candidacy of nine people, including former woman lawmaker Toujan Faisal. The panel said that Faisal, an outspoken critic of the government’s policies, was “ineligible” because she was earlier convicted by a Jordanian court and had not received a general pardon, as stipulated by the elections law.
But in remarks to local press, Faisal alleged she was “targeted to be silenced.” “I was expecting this ruling because the government does not have the intention to allow me to run,” she said, arguing “a number of temporary laws were tailored especially for me in order to bar me from Parliament.” The Islamic Action Front, Jordan’s largest political party, said that it was fielding 22 candidates amid reports that at lest five IAF members had chosen to run as independents due to differences inside the group.
