Jordan heads to polls with focus on Gaza

Jordanians went to the polls Tuesday in a parliamentary election amid the war in Gaza and concerns over a slump in tourism, a sector vital to the kingdom's economy.

It is the first vote since a 2022 reform increased the number of seats in the house, reserving more for women and lowering the minimum age for candidates.

Despite these efforts to modernise the legislature, voters and candidates said the Gaza war dominated the election.

Analysts predicted a high abstention rate, with Islamist candidates struggling to harness public anger over the devastating war since October 7 attack.

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming only the second Arab state to do so after Egypt, but around half its population is of Palestinian origin, and protests calling for the treaty's cancellation have been frequent since the war erupted.

Tensions escalated further just two days before the election when a Jordanian gunman killed three Israeli guards at the border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank -- the first such attack since the 1990s.

This has fuelled voters concerns the ongoing war will continue to strain the kingdom's economy until Israel and Palestinian group Hamas reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

"The situation, frankly, is going from bad to worse in terms of job opportunities, and the salaries are low with long working hours," 21-year-old engineering student Fayez al-Disi told news agency AFP.

Jordan has seen a decline in tourism since the war began -- a sector it relies on for about 14 percent of its gross domestic product.

Compounding the country's economic woes, public debt has neared $50 billion and unemployment hit 21 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Doubts over vote impact

Candidates include tribal leaders, centrists, leftists and Islamists from the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islamic Action Front (IAF).

Results were expected within 48 hours of the close of polls at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT).

In a busy market in central Amman, where campaign posters were on display, views on the vote in the lead-up to polling day were mixed.

"Elections are important and vital. They are our opportunity to make our voices heard and choose who represents us in parliament, even though deep down we doubt there will be significant change," 65-year-old pensioner Issa Ahmed told AFP.

Shopkeeper Mohammed Jaber said: "People are busy with many things, the Gaza war and the bad economic situation. They do not know what the parties will be able to achieve."

According to the election commission, more than 5.1 million people are registered to vote in the country of 11.5 million.

'All eyes' on Gaza

"What is happening in Gaza... (the) killing, destruction and tragedies broadcast daily on television, makes us feel pain, helplessness, humiliation and degradation, and makes us forget the elections and everything that is happening around us," said Omar Mohammed, a 43-year-old civil servant.

"I feel bitterness. I am not sure yet if I will vote in these elections," he added.

Islamist candidates have sought to capitalise on the public anger.

"The Gaza war and the Palestinian cause occupy a major place in Jordanian elections, as all eyes and minds are on Gaza and Palestine and the massacres taking place there against the Palestinian people," said IAF candidate Saleh Armouti.

"The elections... should not be delayed and they serve the Palestinian cause and the region, but I also fear that there will be some abstention from voting due to these events," he told AFP.

Oraib Rantawi, head of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, agreed that turnout was likely to be hit but said significant gains for the Islamists were unlikely.

"The improvement in these forces' status and parliamentary representation will be modest," he told AFP.