Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Musa Ma'aytah, said Saturday that Jordan is proud that it will hold next month's parliamentary polls in "a region plagued by tragic wars", and that skepticism about the date of the polls is unacceptable.

He said the elections, set for September 20 by the Independent Elections Commission, will be held on schedule after His Majesty King Abdullah II had ordered the polls to be held according to the constitution. Welcoming a number of heads and representatives of Jordanian women's associations, Ma'aytah said the polls are a national achievement at the regional and international levels and are a testimony that the Kingdom is steadily moving ahead with democracy despite regional turmoil.

He pointed out that the government had laid out a plan to translate the political reform process and expand the citizens' participation in decision-making through the ballot box.

The minister also said the government had put forward a plan to hold municipal elections and elections to choose governorate councils slated for next year, stressing that the new electoral law is "a progressive" law that would advance collective political, partisan and social work through the formation of institutional and platform-based lists.

Calling women a real tool for change, the minister urged women and civil society institutions to engage heavily in the forthcoming elections.