Qadi told a press conference that 78 deputies entered the 120-member chamber for the first time, while 37 previous lawmakers failed to secure seats in the new house. He said 17 candidates won seats as representatives of political parties.

Out of the 763 candidates who ran the polls, 86 said they were competing as party members. The polls were conducted upon slogans focusing on internal economic and social issues, with few paying attention to foreign policy questions.

A handful of winning candidates, who represented small opposition parties or relied on tribal support, could form an embryonic opposition in the absence of the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement and its political arm, analysts said.

The main opposition force, the Islamic Action Front boycotted the polls citing a deficient election law, lack of political reforms and insufficient assurances from the government that there would be no repetition of the ”rigging” that happened in the 2007 polls.

”Those who sought to cast doubt on the polling process, have lost their credibility and did not achieve anything,” Qadi said. He expressed satisfaction with the 53 per cent voter turnout, saying ”we have expected a much lower rate.”

The vast majority of the seats were clinched by politicians, academics and technocrats who mainly relied on tribal and family support in their endeavors to secure seats under the dome.

Among the winning candidates was former Prime Minister Faisal Fayez, a tribal leader who is widely expected to become speaker of the new chamber.

Winners also included former Foreign Minister Abdullah Ensour and economist Mohammad Halaiqa, an ex-deputy premier for economic affairs.

A total of 13 women entered the new lower house, 12 of them were elected under a women quota.

Reem Badran, daughter of the former Prime Minister Mudar Badran, won a seat at an Amman constituency to become the second woman in Jordan’s history to become member of the House of Representatives through direct contest with male candidates.

Scores of former traditional deputies failed to return to the Parliament this time, prompting analysts to discern a change in the electorate’s thinking.

"Voters have showed their desire for change by electing new faces, which is a positive thing," Taher Masri, president of Jordan's appointed Senate, or upper house, said. “People chose those who are professional in public work, and they did not vote for those who have focused on their personal interests and not parliamentary work.”

“This parliament will be manageable by the government,” said Mohammed Momani, a political science professor at Yarmuk University.

“The lower house is likely to react to the government and its initiatives and follow its lead.”

Some 2.5 million Jordanians were eligible to vote, with 763 candidates vying for a four-year term in the lower house of Parliament. Jordan's Parliament has an elected 120-member lower house and a 60-member senate, appointed by the king.

— With input from agencies