King Abdullah Dissolves Parliament

King Abdullah of Jordan dissolved on Monday the lower house of Parliament and called for early elections.

The 110-seat parliament had completed half of its four-year term after elections held in November 2007 under a controversial electoral law that reduced the representation of the main cities in favour of rural and bedouin areas. During these two years the Jordanian press has criticised the ineffectiveness of Parliament and has denounced cases of alleged corruption of MPs.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Nader Dahabi, the King ordered amendments to the election law and for him to take necessary steps to ensure a “transparent” vote in the upcoming elections. King Abdullah II stressed that these elections “should be a model of transparency, fairness and integrity, and a promising step in our process of reform and modernisation, the aims of which are to achieve the best for our nation and to expand the horizon of progress and prosperity for Jordanians”.

This is the second time King Abdullah has dissolved parliament since he acceded to the throne in 1999.

Filed under Jordan
Tagged Abdullah II of Jordan, Government, Parliament.

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