Yearbook 2008
Jordan. In April, 24 political parties were dissolved in accordance with a 2007 law that stipulated that each party must be instituted by at least 500 members from at least five different provinces. Only twelve of the country’s 36 parties were allowed to continue operating.
In May, the State Security Court sentenced three men to 15 years in prison each for plans to murder U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit Jordan in 2006. At first, the three were sentenced to death, but it was immediately converted to prison. Nine other men who were previously sentenced to death for planning terror attacks also had their sentences converted to life. Four of these were convicted in his absence, among them al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab az-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in 2006.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Click to see the meanings of 2-letter acronym and abbreviation of JO in general and in geography as Jordan in particular.
King Abdullah became the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq on August 11. The visit, which was not announced in advance, lasted four hours. Relations between Shiite-dominated Iraq and Sunnis-dominated Jordan had been strained since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hundreds of Iraqi refugees are living in difficult conditions in Jordan.
Two human rights organizations, Amnesty International and the Jordanian National Center for Human Rights, reported harsh conditions for foreign guest-working women in Jordan. In the fall, the women, most maids from Southeast or South Asia, were subjected to abuse and sexual abuse by their employers. They were forced to work up to 20 hours in a row, sometimes without pay for several years. Embassies of Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka opened sheltered housing for women who have moved their employers. There were 40,000 registered foreign maids in Jordan but many more were there illegally. In January, the Philippines banned its citizens from traveling to Jordan to work.
November
The mandate of the Islamist party is halved
November 12th
Eight seats out of the 130 in the new parliament go to the Islamic Action Front, the political branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The party will thus lose half of its seats, according to the official result of the parliamentary elections. Among the 100 newly elected members, there are 20 with a military background, otherwise the chamber will be dominated by businessmen and clan leaders. 15 women were elected, just as many as the law requires. There are 20 women Members in the sitting Parliament. When the election results are announced, disappointed supporters gather for certain candidates for protest rallies. During both protests and celebrations for elected members, participants violate coronary restrictions. Interior Minister Tawfiq al-Halalmah resigns.
Elections with meager participation
November 10th
Elections to the lower house of parliament are held. The interest of the electorate is small because Parliament seldom constitutes a strong channel for the will of the people. The corona pandemic has also led to calls for an election boycott. The opening hours of the polling stations are extended by a couple of hours, but according to the election commission, just under 30 percent of voters vote. To the Turkish news agency Anatolia, Amer bani Amer, founder of the al-Hayat Center-Rased organization, says that 100 of the 130 candidates elected (78 percent) are new names, but that voters, as before, voted according to their clan affiliation. He also states that only 16 percent of the new names are people who belong to a political party.
For elections with increasing pandemic risk
November 4th
Six days before the parliamentary elections, 62 new deaths are registered in the covid-19 virus pandemic, the largest number to date. A total of 1,029 corona deaths have been confirmed, of which 768 in October. When the pandemic reached Jordan in the spring of 2020, it succeeded in keeping the spread of infection down through strict rules, but during the autumn it has gained momentum and Jordan has, according to Johns Hopkins University in the USA, the highest death rate in the Arab world in relation to the population. Curfews at night and on weekends have been introduced, as well as a ban on crowds larger than 20 people. In addition, those who do not wear a face mask risk a fine.
October
Mutilation of a teenager provokes outcry
October 13th
In al-Zarqa, a 16-year-old boy has been subjected to very serious abuse, with elements such as mutilation of body parts. His eyes also stick out. The boy’s father is arrested on charges of murder and the assault on the son is believed to have been carried out with motives for revenge and / or motives of honor. Half a dozen people are suspected of crimes after the violence against the 16-year-old. Votes are raised for the culprits to receive the death penalty and authorities warn against spreading a video showing the assault via social media.
New government takes office
October 12th
Bisher al-Khasawneh takes over as Prime Minister, and also holds the portfolio as Minister of Defense. In the new government, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Finance Minister Mohamad al-Ississ will remain in office. The ministry consists of a mixture of technocrats (experts) and conservative politicians who are allowed to continue in their posts.
Population 2008
According to Countryaah reports, the population of Jordan in 2008 was 7,261,428, ranking number 102 in the world. The population growth rate was 4.720% yearly, and the population density was 81.7925 people per km2.