Jordanians see democracy slipping, according to poll

Middle East News

Jan 16, 2008, 11:26 GMT

Amman - Jordanians believe the level of democracy in their country receded in 2007, a major election year, according to an opinion poll published Wednesday. Respondents in the survey, conducted by the University of Jordan's Centre 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 per cent of respondents said that the November 20 parliamentary elections were not free and fair, compared with 18 per cent who did not expect the polling process to be free and fair surveyed in a pre-vote poll. About 66 per cent 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,' CSS Deputy Director Fares Breizat said. The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, has accused the government of former Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit of 'rigging' elections. The country's state-funded National Centre of Human Rights has also reported several irregularities that cast doubt on fairness of the general and municipal elections. © 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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