Amman, June 18: Early results indicate that independents close to the royal family won the overwhelming majority of seats in Jordan's legislative elections yesterday, the Interior Ministry said.
The independents, notably representatives of the major
tribes and families which are traditionally loyal to the royal
family, carried more than half the country's 45
constituencies, it said.
Jordanians voted earlier in the country's first
legislative polls since 1997 to elect a 110-seat parliament.
As part of electoral reforms, six places were reserved for
women.
The former speaker of the lower house, Abdel Hadi Majali,
won a seat in the Karak Governorate, 120 km south of Amman,
which recorded the highest voter turnout rate at about 80
percent.
Former prime minister Abdel Raouf Rawabdeh was also re-
elected in the northern Governorate of Irbid, ministry
officials said.
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's key opposition
party which boycotted the last polls in 1997, appeared set to
win about 20 seats, they said, after fielding 30 candidates,
including for the first time a woman.
Bureau Report
