Ministry ready with municipal polls bill

AMMAN — The Ministry of Municipal Affairs on Sunday endorsed the draft municipalities law and referred it to the Legislation Bureau, before its final endorsement and referring it to the Council of Ministers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Under the suggested law, the municipal polls will be the first to be overseen by Independent Elections Commission, following recent constitutional amendments that expanded the mandate of the commission. 

Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri was quoted as saying that amendments to the previous version of the law included cancelling the ministry’s authorities to hold elections, boosting the powers of local councils and forming a higher committee to oversee the performance of mayors and members of municipal councils. 

Masri expected the draft law to be endorsed during the next parliamentary session, which will start in November, in addition to endorsing the decentralisation draft law, which, the official noted, included several “points of conflict” with the existing draft municipalities law.