His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday received a copy of the report on the January 23 parliamentary elections, which was prepared by the Independent Elections Commission (IEC).
During a meeting with the IEC President Abdul Ilah Khatib and IEC commissioners, King Abdullah listened to a briefing on the electoral process, related measures and the feedback received from international observers.
The report detailed electoral procedures implemented over the eight months leading up to the January polls and their aftermath, as stipulated in the IEC Law.
The document was compiled to help decision-makers improve the election process on the basis of best international practices.
The IEC issued an executive summary of the report, where it indicated that the IEC worked to eliminate loopholes that could have led to violations and malpractices, and provided real guarantees so that citizens could exercise their right and choose their representatives freely.
Thousands of monitors from various organisations agreed that the polls were generally well organised and transparent, and submitted recommendations to improve the process.
His Majesty commended IEC efforts to conduct the January elections according to the highest levels of neutrality, fairness and transparency, noting that such effort have been appreciated locally and internationally.
According to Article 12 of the IEC Law, the monitoring agency’s board of commissioners is expected to submit a detailed report on all stages of the parliamentary electoral process and submit it to the King before it is published in the Official Gazette.
During the meeting with the IEC, the King stressed the importance of benefiting from the report to improve electoral performance, calling on the IEC to receive feedback from all segments of society in order to upgrade its performance.
The IEC’s report highlighted the adoption of international criteria and best practices, establishment of a credible record of voters, and awareness campaigns to acquaint citizens with the electoral process.
As part of its recommendations, the report called for developing the Elections Law and for designating a judicial entity to look into election-related violations.