AMMAN, 17 January 2008 — Jordanians believe the level of democracy in their country receded in 2007 despite the conduction of two major elections, according to an opinion poll released yesterday.
Respondents in the survey, conducted by the University of Jordan’s Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), put the level of democracy in Jordan at 5.7 on a scale of 10, compared with 6.3 in 2006.
About 22 percent of respondents said that the Nov. 20 parliamentary elections were not free and fair, compared with 18 percent who did not expect the polling process to be free and fair surveyed in a pre-vote poll. About 66 percent of respondents in the new poll said the elections were fair and free.
The fact that a significant percentage of the 1,113 citizens surveyed questioned the credibility and fairness of both the July municipal elections and the November parliamentary polls “cast a shadow on the government’s democratic practices,” said CSS Deputy Director Fares Breizat.
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan’s largest political party, has accused the government of former Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet of “rigging” both the parliamentary and municipal elections. The country’s state-funded National Center of Human Rights has also reported several irregularities that cast doubt on fairness of the general and municipal elections.
According to the CSS poll, 78 percent of those surveyed said they could not criticize the government publicly without themselves or their families being subject to social or security punishment. The figure was 74 percent in 2006 and under 70 percent in 1999. It also showed that 82 percent could not take part in peaceful political activities for the same reasons, compared with just over 78 percent.
