Rased Statement on Women’s and Youth Representation in the Local Administration Draft Law
RASED Warns Against Interpreting the 30% Quota as a Ceiling on Women’s Representation and Calls for Maintaining the Candidacy Age at 22
RASED to MPs: Clarify the Women’s Quota and Do Not Close the Door to Youth Candidacy
RASED Calls on Political Parties to Act to Safeguard Women’s Representation and Youth Opportunities in Local Administration
RASED: Clear Provisions on Women’s Representation and Youth Participation Will Strengthen the Political Modernization Process
Al-Hayat Center – RASED emphasized the importance of ensuring that the Draft Local Administration Law remains aligned with Jordan’s political modernization process, which over recent years has sought to broaden participation and strengthen the presence of women and youth in decision-making positions. This approach is consistent with the directions established by the outcomes of the Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System and the legislation adopted within that framework, foremost among them the House of Representatives Election Law.
RASED considers local administration to be a fundamental arena for public participation and for developing experience and leadership. Accordingly, the legislation governing local administration should create broad opportunities for participation, preserve the gains achieved for women and youth, and build upon them.
In this context, RASED has followed the amendments introduced by the House of Representatives’ Administrative Committee to the Draft Local Administration Law, particularly those concerning women’s representation and the minimum candidacy age. RASED called on the House of Representatives to review certain formulations in order to ensure their clarity and consistency with the objective of broadening participation.
With regard to women’s representation, the Administrative Committee amended Article 50(d)(1), replacing the word “percentage” in the draft law with the phrase “not exceeding.” RASED noted that the wording “not exceeding 30%” gives rise to two possible interpretations. The first is that the percentage applies only to seats specifically allocated to women who did not win through open electoral competition, while women would remain entitled to win any number of seats competitively. The second is that the provision could later be interpreted as setting a ceiling on women’s overall representation on the council. RASED believes that the mere existence of such interpretive ambiguity warrants amendment, as well-drafted legislation should be clear in itself and should not require conflicting interpretations at a later stage.
RASED stressed that the purpose of the percentage allocated to women should be clearly understood as a guarantee of a minimum level of representation, rather than as a restriction on women’s ability to achieve higher representation through electoral competition. Any woman capable of winning a seat competitively should remain fully entitled to do so, without the 30% figure becoming a restriction on the overall presence of women on the council.
The need for clarity is even more pronounced in Article 65(a). Under the original draft law, the provision referred to achieving a representation rate of “not less than 30%” for women on municipal councils where that level had not been attained through elections. The Administrative Committee amended the wording to “not exceeding 30%.”
RASED considers the distinction between the two formulations to be substantive in its legal effect. The phrase “not less than 30%” establishes a guaranteed minimum level of women’s representation while leaving room for that level to be exceeded through electoral competition. By contrast, the phrase “not exceeding 30%” could be understood as imposing an upper limit on representation. This is precisely why the provision should be drafted in a manner that conclusively determines its intended meaning without requiring subsequent interpretation.
RASED noted that previous Jordanian legislation has generally sought to guarantee a minimum level of women’s representation while preserving their unrestricted ability to win seats through open competition. The 2015 Municipalities Law, for example, used the phrase “not less than 25%,” while subsequent legislation included mechanisms intended to ensure that women reached a specified level of representation where election results alone did not achieve it.
RASED believes that this legislative approach provides a clear basis for the new law: guaranteeing a minimum level of women’s representation while keeping electoral competition fully open for women to achieve a higher level of representation without an imposed ceiling.
Accordingly, RASED calls on the House of Representatives to review the wording of Articles 50(d)(1) and 65(a) in a manner that makes clear that the 30% figure constitutes a guaranteed minimum level of women’s representation, rather than a maximum ceiling, and that prevents any future disagreement over the calculation or application of that percentage.
On youth participation, RASED called for a review of the Administrative Committee’s decision to raise the minimum candidacy age from 22 to 25 years, and urged that the matter be considered within the broader direction of the political modernization process, which seeks to expand youth participation and create greater opportunities for young people to reach decision-making positions.
RASED noted that the House of Representatives Election Law lowered the minimum candidacy age to 25 as part of efforts to widen opportunities for youth participation in political life. From this perspective, maintaining the candidacy age for local councils at 22 would provide young people with an earlier opportunity to gain experience in public service and local-level decision-making.
RASED emphasized that allowing candidacy from the age of 22 does not guarantee election to a council. Rather, it simply guarantees the right to compete, while leaving voters free to assess candidates and select those they consider capable of representing them, irrespective of age, provided candidates meet the legal requirements.
Early participation in municipal councils can also contribute to developing local experience and leadership that may later evolve into party, parliamentary, and broader national engagement. This would strengthen the role of local administration as an important arena for leadership development and meaningful public participation.
RASED called on political parties to engage actively in the deliberations on the Draft Local Administration Law and to work through their representatives in the House of Representatives to support formulations that strengthen the participation of women and youth and ensure clarity in the provisions governing candidacy and representation.
This statement was issued as part of the project “Strengthening Parliamentary Accountability and Inclusive Dialogue in Jordan,” implemented by Al-Hayat Center – RASED with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Jordan.
