IRBID: Voters in Irbid do not expect major surprises in today's elections in terms of which candidates will make it to the Lower House.
According to resident Mohammad Taani, although things are still not clear in certain districts, particularly in the city, many residents of the northern governorate almost seem to know already who will represent them in the next Parliament.
"People always mention the names of the candidates whom they believe will become deputies," said the 28-year-old taxi driver, acknowledging, however, that these expectations are based upon people's own assumptions.
Around 750,000 voters are registered in the nine districts of Irbid Governorate, which is located 90 kilometres north of Amman and has a population of around one million.
A total of 135 candidates, including 10 women, will be competing for 17 seats there, one of them reserved for Christians, according to interior ministry figures.
"We don't expect major surprises this year, unlike the last elections in 2007, when people we never imagined would make it to the Parliament were announced as MPs," Khaldoun Zu'bi told The Jordan Times Monday.
Abdul Fatah Bani Hani agreed with Zu'bi.
"When the final results of the previous elections were announced, I was extremely shocked when some candidates became deputies," he noted, but that will not be the case in this year's elections.
Competition will be higher in the First District, which represents the city of Irbid, than in suburbs across the governorate, said Bani Hani, who works in the tourism sector, explaining, however, that people are talking about one or two strong candidates in the district whom they expect to win.
According to official figures, a total of 35 candidates are competing for the five seats allocated to the First District.
When asked why he and other Irbid residents ruled out major surprises in the election results this year, Taani replied: "Simply because this year's elections will be more transparent."
Saed Balawneh, from the village of Husson, just three kilometres south of the city of Irbid, will be voting in the Second District, which covers the Bani Obeid area and where two seats are allocated for Muslim candidates and one for Christians.
"Maybe things are clearer for the two sub-districts allocated for Muslim candidates than the district for Christians," Balawneh, a ministry employee, claimed, elaborating that five Christians are competing for just one seat and that three of them seem to have equal chances.
"It is really complicated," he said.
By Omar Obeidat
© Jordan Times 2010
