Jordan’s apolitical new parliament

As violence continued in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere in the region last week, Jordan managed to hold boringly quiet elections for the kingdom’s 17th Lower House of Parliament. These came out as expected, with most of the winning candidates being non-ideological and representing clans. While the king was allegedly seeking a new approach to involve parliament in the naming of the next prime minister and in the formation of the cabinet, the new legislature looks worryingly like its predecessors – largely made up of individuals with few ties to political groups. The result is a more or less apolitical legislature that will not get in the way of the serious business of ruling the country and preserving its role as a strategic Western ally and asset. A senior regional election-observer summed things up when he told me privately after the results were announced that the regime “got what it wanted.” The reaction in