UPDATE - Jordanians vote in municipal, governorate council polls

UPDATES WITH COMMENT FROM IAF OFFICIALS

By Laith al-Junidi

AMMAN (AA) - Jordanians went to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in municipal and governorate council elections.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and are scheduled to close at 7 p.m. (1600GMT).

A total of 6,622 candidates are vying for 2,109 local council seats and 350 in governorate council seats.

Sixty-five candidates from Islamic parties are taking part in Tuesday's elections after boycotting the polls for the last 14 years.

Nearly 4.1 million Jordanians are eligible to vote in the election.

Women represent 53 percent of the country’s eligible voters (roughly 2.1 million), while men represent 47 percent (roughly 1.9 million).

Tuesday's vote is being conducted under a new “decentralization law” that was adopted in 2015.

According to the law, each of Jordan’s 12 provinces will have an executive council, appointed by the government and headed up by the provincial governor, in addition to a provincial council, three quarters of whose members are elected while the rest are appointed by the government.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood group, described the electoral environment as “acceptable”.

Answering questions about the performance of IAF candidates, Murad al-Adayla, head of the party’s elections committee, told Anadolu Agency: “We put our trust in the street and in those who support the National Alliance for Reform.”

The National Alliance for Reform is a broad coalition of parties led by the IAF.

“We trust that the electoral process will proceed smoothly and that the most qualified party will win these elections,” al-Adayla added.