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COPYRIGHT (CC) 2020, NIMD, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS

This is a publication of The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD)

This publication or parts of it can be used by others for free as long as they provide a proper

reference to the original publication.

The content of this research is the sole responsibility of the author and can under no

circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of NIMD.

This research was originally written in English language.

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Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Political Parties’ Internal Democrac .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Figure 1: Number of Secretary Generals Per Party ................................................................................................................................... 6

Table 1: Establishment Date of Political Parties & The Number of Sitting Secretaries-General ............................................................ 7

Figure 2: Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties .................................................................................................. 9

Figure 3: Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties ................................................................................................ 10

Figure 4: The Percentage of Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties ................................................................. 11

Figure 5: Average of Years Per S.G. Per Party ......................................................................................................................................... 12

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Introduction

Jordan remains far from being a fully-fledged democracy, yet many of the local stakeholders that

demand democratization of the country, namely political parties, remain inherently undemocratic in

their structures and practices. There are many indicators that could be used to measure internal

democracy in political parties, most prominent of which is the rotation of Secretaries-General and

the average length of time for each term they spend in office. The following brief will focus on this

aspect to gauge the level of internal democracy practiced in political parties.

Political Parties’ Internal Democracy

The party with the highest number of rotations for Secretaries-General is the “Islamic Centrist Party”

with 10 S.G.’s and with an average of 1.8 years for each, followed by the “Islamic Action Front Party”

and the “United Jordanian Front Party” with 5 S.G.’s per party and with an average of 4.5 years and

2 years per party respectively. As for the remaining parties, 28 parties have had only one S.G. since

their establishment with varying averages of years per S.G. depending on the date of establishment.

However, it is worth noting that the party with the longest sitting S.G. is the “Progressive Arab Baa'th

Party” with an average of 26 years for its current S.G. which has been in place since its establishment

in April, 1993. Most of the remaining 16 parties have had only 2 S.G.’s and with a minority of them

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having between 2 to 5 S.G.’s with varying averages and number of years per S.G. depending on the

year of establishment.

When looking at the average number of years per S.G. per party, we get a different picture. The

overall average number of years per S.G. per party hovers around 5.4 years for all parties, which can

still be considered a bit high, especially if we assume that the average number of years per term is 4

years. However, since most parties are less than 10 years old, the number of years per S.G. per party

could be considered “acceptable”, especially if we exclude parties with exceptionally high number of

years per S.G. per party (10 years or more), which can be considered an anomaly in the sample.

It is worth taking into consideration that there are 5 parties1 (Reform Party, Jordanian National

Gathering Party (TAWAD), Knights Party, Jordanian Promise Party, and Al-Nedaa' Party) that had a

change in S.G. (only 2 S.G.’s since establishment) due to the demise of their S.G.’s, which cannot

really be considered as internal democracy. This also means that parties that had only one S.G. since

their establishment and the average number of years per S.G. per party would increase, drawing a

grimmer picture of the reality.

1 Marked with an asterisk

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Figure 1: Number of Secretary Generals Per Party

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Table 1: Establishment Date of Political Parties & The Number of Sitting Secretaries-General

Party Date of Establishment Number of SG's Since Establishment Years Since Establishment

Average of Years Per S.G. Per Party

Islamic Action Front (IAF) 7/12/1992 6 27 4.5

Jordanian Socialist Arab Baa'th Party 17/01/1993 2 26 13.0

Jordanian Communist Party 17/01/1993 3 26 8.7

People's Democratic Party (HASHD) 17/01/1993 4 26 6.5

Jordanian Popular Unity Democratic Party 9/2/1993 2 26 13.0

Progressive Arab Baa'th Party 13/04/1993 1 26 26.0

National Constitutional Party 19/12/1997 3 22 7.3

Nationalistic Movement Party 7/10/1997 5 22 4.4

Islamic Centrist Party 7/12/2001 10 18 1.8

Al-Resalah Party 31/12/2002 1 17 17.0

National Jordanian Party 19/02/2007 1 12 12.0

United Jordanian Front Party 30/09/2007 6 12 2.0

Al-Hayat Jordanian Party 19/02/2008 3 11 3.7

National Current Party 31/08/2009 1 10 10.0

Justice & Development Party 9/6/2009 1 10 10.0

Freedom & Equality Party 6/11/2009 1 10 10.0

Jordanian National Union Party 10/12/2011 5 8 1.6

Jordanian Youth National Party 30/11/2011 2 8 4.0

Justice & Reform Party 1/4/2012 2 7 3.5

Jordanian National Action Front Party 1/12/2012 3 7 2.3

Reform & Renewal Party (HASAD) 19/12/2012 1 7 7.0

Reform Party* 23/02/2012 2 7 3.5

Jordanian National Gathering Party (TAWAD)* 24/06/2013 2 6 3.0

Knights Party* 8/4/2013 2 6 3.0

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Gallantry Party 10/10/2013 1 6 6.0

Stronger Jordan Party 11/6/2013 1 6 6.0

Social Justice Party 2/1/2014 1 5 5.0

Al-Shura Party 5/5/2014 1 5 5.0

Al-Balad Al-Ameen Party 9/6/2014 1 5 5.0

Jordanian Ansar Party 1/7/2014 1 5 5.0

Al-Wafa' National Party 18/01/2015 1 4 4.0

National Unity Party 23/05/2015 1 4 4.0

Al-Awn Jordanian National Party 13/07/2015 1 4 4.0

Jordanian Socialist Democratic Party 8/2/2016 1 3 3.0

Jordanian Democratic Nature Party 8/2/2016 1 3 3.0

Jordanian Future Party 21/03/2016 1 3 3.0

Jordan Ahrar Party 21/03/2016 1 3 3.0

National Jordanian Orientation Party 21/03/2016 1 3 3.0

National Jordanian Renaissance Party 17/04/2016 1 3 3.0

Conservatives Party 18/05/2016 1 3 3.0

Jordanian Promise Party* 31/05/2016 2 3 1.5

Al-Nedaa' Party* 13/07/2016 2 3 1.5

Al-Rayah Party 13/07/2016 1 3 3.0

National Congress Party (Zamzam) 11/8/2016 1 3 3.0

Modernity & Change Party 17/04/2017 1 2 2.0

National Unity Party 27/12/2017 1 2 2.0

Partnership & Rescue Party 27/12/2017 1 2 2.0

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Figure 2: Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties

28

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1 Secretary General 2 Secretary General 3 Secretary General 4 Secretary General 5 Secretary General 6 Secretary General 10 Secretary General

Number of Secretary Generals

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Figure 3: Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties

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1 Secretary General 2 Secretary General 3 Secretary General 4 Secretary General 5 Secretary General 6 Secretary General 10 Secretary General

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Figure 4: The Percentage of Change Frequency of Secretaries-General in Political Parties

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Figure 5: Average of Years Per S.G. Per Party

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