ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Member of the European Parliament, Jo Leinen, said the European Union (EU) is very interested in Jordan's stability and progress, adding that both parties have a distinguished partnership.

Leinen, who chaired an EU committee to monitor Jordan's 2016 parliamentary elections, made his remarks in a press conference held Wednesday at the EU mission's headquarters in Amman to highlight the committee's recommendations regarding those elections.

Leinen underlined the EU's support to the democratic reforms in Jordan, which is the will of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

He said the committee has submitted 33 recommendations to Jordanian authorities regarding the elections, 15 of which are priority.

The committee focused on a more important role that political parties could paly in the democratic and parliamentary system, Leinen noted.

The committee called for reducing the age of those entitled to run for the election from 30 to 25 years old, especially since 70 percent of the Kingdom's population of Jordan is young and under age 30.

Leinen said the committee submitted recommendations on other issues related to empowering women, the Independent Election Commission (IEC)'s role and reviewing the legislation related to media.