Legislative branch:
bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma consists of the
Senate, also called the House of Notables (Majlis al-Ayan) (55
seats; members appointed by the monarch from designated categories
of public figures; members serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of
Deputies, also called the House of Representatives (Majlis
al-Nuwaab) (110 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis
of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); note - six
seats are reserved for women and are allocated by a special
electoral panel if no women are elected
elections: Chamber of Deputies - last held 17 June 2003 (next to be
held in 2007)
election results: Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party -
independents and other 84.6%, IAF 15.4%; seats by party -
independents and other 88, IAF 16; note - six women were appointed
to fill the woman's quota seats, including one female member of the
IAF; two IAF members were expelled from the Chamber of Deputies in
2006
Judicial branch:
Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)
Political parties and leaders:
al-Ahd Party; Arab Islamic Democratic Movement [Yusuf ABU BAKR,
president]; Arab Land Party [Dr. Ayishah Salih HIJAZAYN, secretary
general]; Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Taysir al-HIMSI, secretary
general]; Ba'th Arab Progressive Party [Fu'ad DABBUR, secretary
general]; Freedom Party; Future Party; Islamic Action Front or IAF
[Zaki Sa'ed BANI IRSHEID, secretary general]; Islamic Center Party
[Marwan al-FAURI, secretary general]; Jordanian Arab Ansar Party;
Jordanian Arab New Dawn Party; Jordanian Arab Party; Jordanian
Citizens' Rights Movement; Jordanian Communist Party [Munir
HAMARINAH, secretary general]; Jordanian Communist Workers Party;
Jordanian Democratic Left Party [Musa MA'AYTEH, secretary general];
Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party [Sa'id Dhiyab Ali MUSTAFA,
secretary general]; Jordanian Generations Party [Muhammad KHALAYLEH,
secretary general]; Jordanian Green Party [Muhammad BATAYNEH,
secretary general]; Jordanian Labor Party [Dr. Mazin Sulayman Jiryis
HANNA, secretary general]; Jordanian Peace Party; Jordanian People's
Committees Movement; Jordanian People's Democratic Party (Hashd)
[Ahmad YUSUF, secretary general]; Jordanian Rafah Party; Jordanian
Renaissance Party; Mission Party; Nation Party [Ahmad al-HANANDEH,
secretary general]; National Action Party (Haqq) [Tariq al-KAYYALI,
secretary general]; National Constitutional Party [Abdul Hadi
MAJALI, secretary general]; National Popular Democratic Movement
[Mahmud al-NUWAYHI, secretary general]; Progressive Party [Fawwaz
al-ZUBI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Anti-Normalization Committee [Ali Abu SUKKAR, president vice
chairman]; Jordan Bar Association [Hussein Mujalli, chairman];
Jordanian Press Association [Sayf al-SHARIF, president]; Muslim
Brotherhood [Salem AL-FALAHAT, controller general]
International organization participation:
ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt,
ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, OIC, ONUB, OPCW,
OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL,
UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador ZEID Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, Prince chancery: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-2664 FAX: [1] (202) 966-3110
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador David M. HALE embassy: Abdoun, Amman mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; Unit 70200, Box 5, APO AE 09892-0200 telephone: [962] (6) 590-6000 FAX: [962] (6) 592-0121
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), representing the
Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate, and
green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate; a red isosceles triangle
on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, and
bearing a small white seven-pointed star symbolizing the seven
verses of the opening Sura (Al-Fatiha) of the Holy Koran; the seven
points on the star represent faith in One God, humanity, national
spirit, humility, social justice, virtue, and aspirations; design is
based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I
Economy Jordan
Economy - overview:
Jordan is a small Arab country with insufficient supplies of water,
oil, and other natural resources. Debt, poverty, and unemployment
are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since assuming the
throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a
long-term effort to improve living standards. Since Jordan's
graduation from its most recent IMF program in 2002, Amman has
continued to follow IMF guidelines, practicing careful monetary
policy, and making substantial headway with privatization. The
government also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently to
secure Jordan's membership in the WTO (2000), a free trade accord
with the US (2001), and an association agreement with the EU (2001).
These measures have helped improve productivity and have put Jordan
on the foreign investment map. Jordan imported most of its oil from
Iraq, but the US-led war in Iraq in 2003 made Jordan more dependent
on oil from other Gulf nations, and has forced the Jordanian
Government to raise retail petroleum product prices and the sales
tax base. Jordan's export market, which is heavily dependent on
exports to Iraq, was also affected by the war but recovered quickly
while contributing to the Iraq recovery effort. The main challenges
facing Jordan are reducing dependence on foreign grants, reducing
the budget deficit, and creating investment incentives to promote
job creation.