Jordanian general election, 2016

General elections were held in Jordan on 20 September 2016 to elect the 18th Lower House of Parliament. The elections were announced after parliament was dissolved by King Abdullah II of Jordan on 29 May 2016, with the King appointing Hani Al-Mulki as interim Prime Minister following the resignation of Abdullah Ensour.

Following electoral reforms announced in 2015, these elections were the first since 1989 to be held primarily under a form of proportional representation; intervening elections were held under the “one-man one-vote” system, which systematically disadvantaged Islamic political parties, after they managed to obtain 22 seats out of 80 in 1989. The elections were run by the Independent Electoral Commission, and were overseen by dozens of international observers.

The reforms led to opposition parties deciding to contest this election, including the Islamic Action Front, who boycotted multiple previous elections including the two immediately preceding this one. To reduce IAF influence in these elections the Jordanian government fomented splits in the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to the seizure of Muslim Brotherhood properties and the defection of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood figures to form a new supposedly more moderate party.

The IAF contested the elections through a coalition with the name of the "National Coalition for Reform". The NCR included Christians, Circassians and women, winning only 15 seats, they were expecting 20-30 seats. However, the number of IAF members from the winning NCR members is only 10. Women made historic gains where 5 women won out of the quota system, making the total 20 out of 130. A notable improvement from the previous 2013 elections, where women held 18 seats out of 150. Voter turnout was reported to be 37%, lower percentage than the previous elections, but greater numbers of eligible voters (1.5 million) headed to the polls. The lower turnout is attributed to the inability of Jordanian expatriates to vote due to the new elections law, numbered around 1 million. Elections were regarded as fair and transparent by international observers, and the electoral reforms were hailed.

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