Elections date is decided by King — Kalaldeh

AMMAN — The exact date of conducting the parliamentary elections is something solely decided by the King under the Constitution, a senior official said on Saturday.

Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Khaled Kalaldeh said that the date of the elections is something related to the Lower House’s completing, or not completing, its four-year term or not.

"If the current House completes its four-year term, which ends on January 29, 2017, the elections are to be held four months before that or a maximum of two years following it as per the constitutional authorities granted to the King," Kalaldeh told The Jordan Times, citing Article 68 of the Constitution.

Paragraph A of the said article reads: “The term of office of the Chamber of Deputies shall be four calendar years commencing from the date of the announcement of the results of the general elections in the Official Gazette. The King may, by a Royal Decree, prolong the term of the Chamber for a period of not less than one year and not more than two years.”

According to Paragraph B: “A general election shall take place during the four months preceding the end of the term of the Chamber. If the election has not taken place by the end of the term of the Chamber or if such election is delayed for any reason, the Chamber shall remain in office until the election of a new Chamber.”

The King has previously said that the parliamentary elections are to be held on time, Kalaldeh said, adding, “but when exactly is something exclusively decided by His Majesty”.

Kalaldeh’s remarks came to clarify remarks he made to The Jordan Times in a recent interview during which he said that the next parliamentary elections are to be held on January 29, 2017 unless “new developments emerge”.