IEC Chief: Political reform, an ongoing, irreversible process

Independent Election Commission Chairman Musa Maaytah reiterated Saturday that political modernization is an irreversible vision of His Majesty the King, and that the government seeks to rectify any loopholes that may arise here and there. "The political modernization scheme and recent constitutional amendments paved the way for organized collective political action, and helped to empower women and youth to join parties and vote towards parliamentary governments," he said at the opening of a conference titled "New Political Approach 2024: Reality and Aspirations." "We are all required to find new political elites to lead the next stage, and on whose shoulders rests the success of the partisan experience," he said, adding that political modernization is an ongoing and unstoppable process. The IEC will remain nonpartisan and will enforce the law, not defend the parties or interfere in their work, he told the conference, which was organized by the Jordan Forum for Policy Dialogue and attended by political par ty and national figures. On electoral fraud and bribery, Maaytah reiterated that the IEC will firmly respond to "this type of crimes," adding that the commission has appointed legal researchers, who will cooperate with the Ministry of Justice and electoral committees, to crackdown on such crimes and prosecute perpetrators. For her part, Minister of Social Development and Head of the Ministerial Committee for the Empowerment of Women, Wafa Bani Mustafa, said the upcoming parliamentary elections are a test of the political modernization system, and urged the parties to take advantage of the polls to correct past blunders. Source: Jordan News Agency