(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)

Amman, July 2 (Petra) -- The Ministry of Government Communications Tuesday held a meeting with journalists representatives on elections with the participation of the Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Haditha Kharisha, and the Minister of Government Communications, the Muhannad Mubaideen.
As part of the Government Communications Forum, Khraisha said the next House of Representatives would be unprecedented in Jordan's history since it would be based on partisan programmatic blocs, adding that 30 per cent of the House seats would be for parties.
He said seats allocated for parties would increase in the next House to 50 per cent and 65 per cent at the minimum in the one that would follow.
He added that the number of party members reached 92,494, according to statistics from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), 1.8 per cent of voters, adding that this percentage is "good" compared to countries with a long democratic history.
He added that the highest percentage of party members eligible to vote was in Mafraq at 6 per cent. Amman was the lowest at 1.39 per cent.
Khraisha said the Parties Law ended the idea of ??a "one-person party" by stipulating the democracy of parties and that citizens have the right to form their parties, adding that freedom of expression is protected and that the law would not be misused to limit freedom.
He said no political party had used "black money," adding that the electoral law has increased penalties for electoral bribery or black money.
He added that the electoral law granted ICE employees the status of "judicial police," which will reflect positively on the conduct of the electoral process.
He said the candidacy age has come down to 25 years and that party lists must include five candidates aged between 25 and 35.
"Quota" seats for women in local constituencies were increased to 18.
Mubaideen said the government would support the IEC to hold parliamentary elections on September 10.

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