In 15 minutes I should be heading out of the office to go and perform my civilcivic duty by voting in this year’s municipal elections. I can’t begin to count the times friends and colleagues laughed at my use of the term “civilcivic duty”… the eternal question is “do you actually believe any of those candidates is in it to make a difference? Does anyone have a clear agenda on which they’re running? Is it anything but business interests or tribal affiliations and pacts??”
I have two bitter confessions to make; the first is that I missed the registration deadline back in May, which meant that my registration remains the same as it was four years ago when I first voted in the parliamentary elections, i.e. in Madaba. Don’t get me wrong, I care so much about Madaba and feel so proud of my roots there… BUT, Amman is my hometown… Amman is where I drive everyday, where I walk, where I attempt to jog or find parks and cultural events to go to, and where whatever the municipality does directly affects my life.
Since I didn’t do anything to change my registration when there were all these campaigns reminding people, and targeting youth (I even wrote the script for one of the radio PSA’s calling out to young people to go and register!! I have no excuses whatsoever for not having taken action), I thought I could drive down to Madaba and try to find out as much as I can about the candidates. But again, with the hectic work schedule and magazine deadlines of the past couple of weeks, I didn’t get to do that.
So, here I find myself today, with absolutely no clue about the background of each candidate and what basis they’re running on. Yesterday I googled half of Madaba’s candidates, uselessly of course. Not that I expected to find anything. Shaden was right in her post… it’s not the average citizen’s duty to run all around town trying to dig up the platforms and agendas of candidates as if it’s some big mystery. Candidates should reach out to the public with this information. Local media should dedicate some space for that. Amman Net has been doing a wonderful job in this regard. They have the most comprehensive coverage on the elections in Amman, but when they tried to invite the candidates of each area for a debate in the studio, all but one apologized, came up with excuses not to come, or simply stopped answering their phone. I don’t know the statistics of how many registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 30, but I bet you it constitutes a significant percentage of the total voters. How do you reach out to those? Internet penetration may be low in Jordan, but it’s available in universities and knowledge stations. How hard is it for every candidate to create a website, post his C.V and record, and let us know what he or she intends to do in the council??
Any other suggestions? Don’t you think that the designated one week is too short for electoral campaigns?
In case you don’t know, it’s highly worth noting that some major changes were made to the municipal elections law this year, whereby the entire council is elected, rather than only half of it as was the case four years ago. Last time the head of the municipal council was appointed as well, but this year, it’s all through election.
Another change is the introduction of a 20% minimum quota for women. On the one hand, this has encouraged more women to run for office, but on the other, you’d think, if 20% are going to be women anyways, then it doesn’t matter whether or not I vote for a woman. I don’t have a fixed position on the quota system yet. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts if you’d like to share.
In case you’re wondering who I’m going to vote for, I might turn in a white ballot… at least that impacts the process more than staying home and acting as though this does not concern me.
Check out www.mun-elections.net for information. Also check out Amman Net’s reports on the different angles of the elections.
I have two bitter confessions to make; the first is that I missed the registration deadline back in May, which meant that my registration remains the same as it was four years ago when I first voted in the parliamentary elections, i.e. in Madaba. Don’t get me wrong, I care so much about Madaba and feel so proud of my roots there… BUT, Amman is my hometown… Amman is where I drive everyday, where I walk, where I attempt to jog or find parks and cultural events to go to, and where whatever the municipality does directly affects my life.
Since I didn’t do anything to change my registration when there were all these campaigns reminding people, and targeting youth (I even wrote the script for one of the radio PSA’s calling out to young people to go and register!! I have no excuses whatsoever for not having taken action), I thought I could drive down to Madaba and try to find out as much as I can about the candidates. But again, with the hectic work schedule and magazine deadlines of the past couple of weeks, I didn’t get to do that.
So, here I find myself today, with absolutely no clue about the background of each candidate and what basis they’re running on. Yesterday I googled half of Madaba’s candidates, uselessly of course. Not that I expected to find anything. Shaden was right in her post… it’s not the average citizen’s duty to run all around town trying to dig up the platforms and agendas of candidates as if it’s some big mystery. Candidates should reach out to the public with this information. Local media should dedicate some space for that. Amman Net has been doing a wonderful job in this regard. They have the most comprehensive coverage on the elections in Amman, but when they tried to invite the candidates of each area for a debate in the studio, all but one apologized, came up with excuses not to come, or simply stopped answering their phone. I don’t know the statistics of how many registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 30, but I bet you it constitutes a significant percentage of the total voters. How do you reach out to those? Internet penetration may be low in Jordan, but it’s available in universities and knowledge stations. How hard is it for every candidate to create a website, post his C.V and record, and let us know what he or she intends to do in the council??
Any other suggestions? Don’t you think that the designated one week is too short for electoral campaigns?
In case you don’t know, it’s highly worth noting that some major changes were made to the municipal elections law this year, whereby the entire council is elected, rather than only half of it as was the case four years ago. Last time the head of the municipal council was appointed as well, but this year, it’s all through election.
Another change is the introduction of a 20% minimum quota for women. On the one hand, this has encouraged more women to run for office, but on the other, you’d think, if 20% are going to be women anyways, then it doesn’t matter whether or not I vote for a woman. I don’t have a fixed position on the quota system yet. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts if you’d like to share.
In case you’re wondering who I’m going to vote for, I might turn in a white ballot… at least that impacts the process more than staying home and acting as though this does not concern me.
Check out www.mun-elections.net for information. Also check out Amman Net’s reports on the different angles of the elections.
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