Parliament

Jordan has a bicameral national assembly which is called “Majlis al-Umma” in Arabic. The Jordanian 1952 constitution states two parts of the legislature --- the House of Senate, and the House of Representatives. The Senate has 75 seats on which members are directly appointed by the King of Jordan. The House of Representatives have 150 seats out of which 9 are reserved for the Christians. Three seats in the national assembly are for Circassians and Chechen people in Jordan while 15 seats are fixed for women representation. The Senate constitutes less than half of the parliament and the constitution never allows its size to go beyond this ratio. If the number of representatives increases, the number of senate seats is also proportionately increased. The representatives are elected for four year terms.

The Jordanian parliament functions for legislation through proposals which the Prime Minister refers to the House of Representatives for acceptance, amendment, or rejection. The proposals are referred to as bills when they pass different stages of approval by the legislature. If a bill is passed by two-third majority in both houses, it is referred to an Act of Parliament. The Jordanian King cannot veto an Act of Parliament (Braizat, 2007).

The current parliament in Jordan is mainly dominated by the representatives of Islamic Action Front (IAF). Although Jordan has experienced electoral reforms and has had representatives elected since the last five decades, the multi-party political system has not yet fully developed in Jordan. There are 34 registered political parties in Jordan centered around four basic themes: Islamists, leftists, Arab nationalists, and conservatives.