AKEED, Wasfi Khushman

The curtain was drawn on the elections of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) on Friday, 5 May. Rakan Saaideh became the 30th president of the JPA after he won 513 out of 891 votes cast by journalists, while his four rivals collectively received 329 votes. The remaining ballots were deemed invalid.

Yanal Barmawi also won as vice president after obtaining 429 votes, which is higher than the 417 votes won by his three rivals. The following won as JPA council members: Khalid al-Qudah, Zein al-Deen Khalil, Faisal Basbous, Ali Freihat, Fayiz Abu Qaoud, Omar Maharmeh, Hadil Ghaboun, Hiba Sabbagh, and Mouayyad Abu Subeih.

The candidates ran in the first elections after the amendments to JPA Law of 2014, which allowed a candidate who obtains the highest votes to win the post of president without the need for a second round. The amendments also allowed for the election of the vice president by direct ballot after he had been elected for years from among the members of the council.

The results were surprising in that the JPA council did not have any member from the Jordan News Agency (Petra), the largest press body in the Kingdom, while Al Rai had the lion"s share by winning three seats, besides the post of president. Al Dustour won two seats, besides the vice president. Meanwhile, Al Ghad and Jordan TV shared the remaining four seats.

The main person who was absent from the JPA council was Fakhri Abu Hamda, former director of the JPA, who had maintained a seat in the council since 1982. He left in this election after losing the battle for electing the president.

For the first time, two women journalists won as members, accounting for 18% of council members. They are Hadil Ghaboun and Hiba Sabbagh. Women journalists entered the council for the first time in 1987. They have not been absent from the council since 1999.

Putting Out Feelers

Potential candidates began to make moves in the media in the last quarter of 2016. Some of them had started before that by making field visits and phone calls and participating in social events.

Social media platforms played an important role at that stage by seeking the views of fellow journalists about plans to run in the elections and gauging their reactions. As 2016 drew to a close and a new year began, action by journalists who wish to run continued. As time went by, activities became more intense. The activities by journalists who planned to run in the JPA council elections were mostly individual. They did not announce lists, and coalitions remained unannounced.

While some journalists ran in the elections without issuing a platform, relying on their relations with the general assembly, others preferred to announce their nomination based on a platform, in which they outlined their objectives.

The platforms of candidates to the post of president or vice president did not differ from those for membership as they all had common ideas, such as:

- Promoting investment and increasing JPA revenues.

- Bonuses for journalists working in official media establishments.

- Membership of the JPA and determining who is eligible to become a member.

- Commitment of press and media establishments to the 1%.

- Takaful and pension fund.

- Defending freedoms and underlining freedom of journalists.

- Not trying journalists except under the umbrella of the Press and Publications Law.

- Supporting press establishments that are facing difficulties.

- Confining journalistic and media work to JPA members.

- Financial facilities to members of the JPA.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) observed that platforms did not clearly refer to supporting professionalism on the part of journalists and holding those who violate the standards of journalistic work accountable.

Launching Activities

The names of candidates began to take shape with the start of April. More journalists announced their candidacy, while others preferred to withdraw. Also, some press establishments held internal elections to produce candidates with the aim of increasing their chances of representation in the JPA council.

The JPA council invited the general assembly to hold its annual ordinary meeting on 28 April. This coincided with the announcement of the names of journalists who are eligible to vote. They total 1045 out of 1229 journalists, after paying the fees of membership (practicing journalists).

Questions were raised after announcing the list, focusing on the contradiction in the Amended JPA Law No. 24 of 2014 with regard to the status of the journalist who has not paid membership fees by 31 March every year. Is his membership automatically revoked (dismissal) or does he move from the register of practicing to non-practicing journalists?

Article 11 stipulates the following: Membership shall be considered effectively canceled in any of the following cases:

- Resignation.

- Issuing a final disciplinary decision to strike off his name from the register of practicing journalists.

- Losing one of the conditions of membership stipulated in this law upon accepting his affiliation to the association or losing one of these conditions after accepting his membership.

- Not paying the fees and any financial obligations to the association by 31 March every year at the latest in accordance with the provisions of this law and the regulations issued based on it.

- Death.

Meanwhile, Paragraph B in Article 14 stipulates the following: "The name of the journalist shall be transferred from the list of practicing to non-practicing journalists based on a decision by the council in any of the following cases: If he does not pay the annual fees and dues by 31 March every year at the latest."

Decisive Moment Approaches

On 18 April, the door for running in the elections was opened. Six candidates applied to compete for the post of president. One of them withdrew later. Four candidates applied to compete for vice president, while 30 candidates applied to compete for membership of the JPA council.

Once again, a quarrel erupted over the second point of Paragraph B of Article 29 of the Amended JPA Law No. 24 of 2014, which stipulated that a candidate for the post of vice president and membership of the council "must have been registered as a practicing journalist in the association for at least five consecutive years."

However, a statement by former JPA President Tareq Momani ended the quarrel by announcing that the JPA council had sought guidance from the opinion of the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, which stated that "the period of five years stipulated for running for vice president and for membership and ten years for the post of president can be calculated based on any periods of membership for the candidate and does not have to be the recent period or the period that immediately precedes submitting the candidacy application provided that this period is uninterrupted."

The concerned candidates heaved a sigh of relief and resumed their election campaigns. The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) had several observations during this stage:

- Lack of understanding of the JPA law and its amendments, manifested in:

1. The importance of looking at the financial and administrative reports and their discussion and approval.

2. The law states that the ordinary meeting and elections shall be held in April. The fate of the meeting and elections is unclear if quorum is not attained and it is delayed until May.

Article 20 of the JPA law states the following: "The general assembly of the association shall hold one ordinary meeting annually in April at the invitation of the council in line with the measures stipulated in this law."

Article 26 states the following: "Quorum for any ordinary meeting held by the general assembly shall be attained by the attendance of the absolute majority of members who are eligible to take part in the meetings of the general assembly. If this quorum is not available within an hour of the date of the meeting, the general assembly shall be invited to another meeting to be held in not less than a week and not more than 15 days. The meeting shall be deemed legal regardless of the number of members who attend it."

3. Questions were raised about the post of vice president. The amendments to the law approved his election after he had been selected previously from the members of the council, but what is the procedure in place in the event of his resignation, death, or inability to carry out his duties? Will elections be held to elect a new vice president or will the candidate who came second in the elections to the post of vice president be appointed?

Paragraph B of Article 38 stipulates the following: "If the vice president, secretary of the association, or treasurer resigns, dies, or is unable to carry out his duties for any reason, the council shall elect from its members a person to replace him." This stipulation was effective in the old law, and has not been amended in the new law despite the fact that the vice president is an elected position, while the positions of secretary and treasurer are selected from the members of the council.

AKEED also had other observations at this stage, such as:

- The attempt to influence voters by classifying candidates according to region or tribe.

- Coalitions became public and some blocs emerged informally.

- Political slogans were weak in the platforms of candidates, who focused instead on the living and professional conditions of the members.

- Local news sites and radios promoted some candidates.

- Social media platforms were heavily used to promote candidates.

Breakdown of candidates per establishment in which they are employed:

No Quorum; No Meeting

On Friday morning, 28 April, journalists had to wait for quorum to be attained to start their ordinary meeting, which is followed by holding the elections. However, the number of journalists who registered their names totaled 398 out of 1045. Since quorum means the presence of the absolute majority (half plus one), former JPA President Tareq Momani decided to postpone the meeting and elections until next Friday, 5 May.

AKEED monitored what the press said about why the members of the general assembly refrained from going to the Royal Cultural Center on Friday morning to attend the meeting and cast their votes:

- The wish of some journalists to sleep and relax in the morning of their off day.

- Some journalists are used to performing the Friday prayer and then going to the meeting.

- Ruling out the lack of quorum because there had been no precedent in previous years.

- Some parties wish to foil the meeting to prevent discussing the financial and administrative reports.

- External intervention to put pressure on some candidates and make them withdraw.

Calm

The week separating the two Fridays, 28 April and 5 May, witnessed calm, which was clear in the small number of posts on social media platforms and the decline in the number of field visits to press establishments. The efforts of candidates were confined to narrow meetings and limited phone calls.

Two days before the date of the elections, a website published a report about a complaint filed by a photojournalist against one of the candidates to the position of vice president because of threats he had faced. However, the website removed the report later.

Decisive Day

Friday, 5 May, was a hot day. The ordinary meeting witnessed discussions on the financial and administrative reports of the JPA. However, the general assembly voiced reservations about them and referred them to the next council. The financial and administrative reports had previously generated debate in the extraordinary meeting that was held on 6 May 2016.

In spite of expectations that turnout by journalists in the elections of their own association would be weak, 85% of journalists cast their votes. The elections were smooth with the exception of the repeat of cases whereby some candidates got close to the ballot boxes and raised their voices to urge fellow journalists to vote for them. This prompted Khalid Shaqran, chairman of the election supervision committee, to intervene to stop them.

Some journalists took pictures of the ballot papers while they were in the voting booth, which made Khalid Shaqran, chairman of the election supervision committee, cancel five ballot papers.

Neither JPA Law No. 24 of 2014 nor the JPA Bylaw contains any reference to the legality or illegality of taking pictures of the ballot papers while in the voting booth.

Article 31 of the JPA law stipulates that "balloting to elect the president, vice president, and members of the council shall be secret and shall be exercised by the member himself. He may not mark the ballot paper in any manner to indicate his personality. This includes his name, signature, or any symbol he is known for. This may invalidate the ballot paper."

When looking at other legal texts that prohibit taking pictures of ballot papers in the voting booth, we see that the executive instructions on polling and counting of votes issued based on the provisions of Articles 28, 38, 39, 40, 43, and 67 of Election Law No. 6 of 2016 of the Lower House of Parliament stipulated the following in Article 12, Paragraph B: "Voters shall be prohibited from using mobile phones or any other means to take pictures or videos inside the polling room in whatever manner."

The AKEED Monitor called Lawyer Mahmoud Qteishat, who confirmed that the chairman of the election supervision committee may not invalidate ballot papers and that journalists whose ballots were invalidated may appeal this decision. Qteishat added that the JPA elections were governed by the JPA law only and that no other law has authority over them.  

Khalid Shaqran, chairman of the election supervision committee, said that as soon as he noticed that someone was taking pictures of the ballot papers, he asked a JPA official to call the legal adviser to the JPA to inquire about the legality of this behavior. The adviser confirmed that it was legal to invalidate the ballot papers if voters take pictures of them.

The legal adviser to the JPA confirmed that invalidating the ballot papers was "a legal measure to maintain the principle of secrecy." He added that the law stressed the secrecy of the ballot in Article 31 and that taking pictures of the ballot paper that has names of persons whom others voted for "undermines the principle of secrecy."

Answering question by AKEED on the fact that there is no clear provision prohibiting taking pictures, besides the fact that there were cases of taking pictures of ballot papers on other electoral occasions, the legal adviser to the JPA said that for a voter to keep a picture of the ballot paper "in his pocket" and not to show it to anyone "is not a violation of the law." He said that most probably, the aim of taking a picture of the ballot paper is to express "courtesy" toward one of the candidates or to confirm electing a certain person. Therefore, it is considered a declaration and it violates the law.

He added that the committee supervising the elections of the JPA learned that some voters took pictures of their ballot papers. Therefore, canceling the five ballot papers is "legal." The JPA adviser replied to the statements by Lawyer Qteishat by saying that "any lawyer is entitled to give his opinion of this legal matter."

Vote Counting

The AKEED Monitor recorded the following observations during the vote counting:

- The polling ended at exactly 5 pm. The counting of votes for the position of president began immediately afterwards.

- Donald Trump won one vote in the box for electing the president. There was also another vote for him in the box for electing the vice president.

- Former President Tareq Momani won one vote in the box for electing the president.

- The supporters of the winning president expressed joy repeatedly inside the room, which made the chairman of the committee request quiet more than once.

- As soon as he was declared winner, the president made a speech, in which he thanked his supporters and highlighted his platform for leading the JPA during the next three years.

- One of the losing candidates made a speech, in which he thanked everyone who voted for him and congratulated the president on winning.

- The vice president thanked those who voted for him and announced that one of the priorities of the new council was to secure the release of journalist Tayseer Al Najjar, who has been sentenced in the UAE.

- The counting of votes for the election of council members continued until 4:30 am.

- There were several instances of writing more than one name on the ballot paper for electing the president and vice president. This forced the committee chairman to ask the candidates to agree to consider the first name only as valid, which they accepted.

In this context, the AKEED Monitor observed a contradiction between two articles in the JPA law. The legal adviser to the JPA acknowledged this as well. Clause D in Article 30 states the following: If there is a ballot paper that has a number of names exceeding the required number to be elected for any position, the ballot paper shall be considered invalid. Meanwhile, Clause B of Article 31 states the following: The ballot paper shall be considered invalid if it contains anything that violates public morals or is illegible, unclear, or confusing. As for the papers that contain a number of names that exceeds the required number for any position, the additional names shall be neglected.

The legal adviser to the JPA said that the recent amendments to the JPA law were "very quick and did not take enough time to be discussed." He added that "there are more than four contradictory provisions." We will work with the new council to examine and amend these "contradictory" provisions. They include the selection of a vice president in the case of his absence. He explained, however, that lawmakers confirm that "a later provision prevails over a previous provision." This is why we took Article 31 when it comes to neglecting additional names, which is "the lesser of two evils," as he put it.

Breakdown of winners per establishment in which they are employed:

The media handling of the results of the elections was positive. Media outlets only congratulated the president and vice president and the winning members and wished good luck to the losers in the next elections. AKEED did not observe any violations at this stage.

AKEED monitored optimism among journalists vis-à-vis the results of the elections, especially in light of the first moves by the JPA council, such as calling the foreign minister over the issue of Tayseer Al Najjar and calling the latter in prison. This is in addition to its meeting with the Media and National Guidance Committee in the Senate and its efforts in support of journalists at Al Dustour newspaper.