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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS- THE Ministry of Political Development initiated the campaign season for the upcoming parliamentary election with widespread posters and banners urging citizens to practice their constitutional right by voting in the upcoming parliamentary election.

It's part of the Ministry's policy ahead of each elections to urge all the citizen who are eligible vote to take part in choosing their representatives in the upcoming parliament.

Yet what is eye-catching this season is the government's resorting to loaded slogans to urge such participation.

One of their posters provoked controversy regarding the government's intention in its use. It depicts a well-known Jordanian caricaturian character casting his ballot in a "national unity" ballot box.

Al-Arab Al-Yawn columnist Fahed Al-Kheetan remarked to 'Ammon News' that including such politically sensitive slogans as part of government propaganda is "un-desirable," even if the slogan is a part of government program.

He added that "urging citizens to participate is constitutional..." but insinuating controversial issues such as "national unity" and "second-class right," as did several candidates running in the third district in Amman, plays on the citizenship/naturalization controversy and plays with people's emotions in an attempt to attract votes... "this is done with disregard to the danger of feeding the negative discrimination game," especially that many voters have preconceived ideas about what the slogans mean.

Al-Rai daily newspaper colunmist Sami zubaidi argues that "the Ministry of Political Development wants citizens to believe that the elections is a referendum on national unity, and that participation will necessarily solidify it.. this reflects a lacking in uderstanding the nature of elections from an entity that should be more aware of its political and non-political implications of such slogans."

"There are many other priorities dealing with Jordanian society's daily life, economically, socially, and politically.. this is a rejected attempt to enforce national unity on the parliamentary election agenda," Zubaidi added.