Jordan elections to be postponed, sources say

Jordan has decided to postpone the legislative elections which were basically set for September of this year to the spring of 2003.

A high ranking Jordanian official who asked not to be identified said that the Jordanian King Abdullah II will shortly announce the reasons behind this postponement. However, Jordanian political sources attributed the postponement to the tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories and the American threats to striking Iraq.

A Jordanian politician told AFP that the situation in the region does not encourage the authorities to organize elections because Jordanians, and as an expression of their anger, might vote for "extremist candidates" who make the mission of the government very difficult.

The Jordanian King in June 2001 desolved the parliament in preparation to make a new legislative elections.

A new election law was adopted that provides for increasing the number of parliamentarians from 80 to 104 and the age of voters of 18 year to 19 year old.

Since then, Jordanian officials stress that the elections which were due in November 2001 will be held before the end of 2002, while the opposition, especially the Islamists, criticizes the absence of an elected legislative authority. The Majlis al-Ayan ( upper house) which includes 40 members and appointed by the King, is the only side which continues its mission in the parliament.