Jordanian public figures express fears over country's future

Jordan's King Abdullah II   Hundreds of Jordanian former ministers, former and current lawmakers, commentators and activists have petitioned King Abdullah II to postpone planned early elections in order to resolve a growing dispute over a controversial electoral law that has sparked a nationwide boycott campaign.
The petition comes to avert what signatories are calling a "failed election" by encouraging decision makers to revisit a recently endorsed electoral law. The law was rejected by many political forces due to its perceived failure to amend a controversial one-person, one-vote electoral formula.
Opinion leaders urged a three month delay in the polls and for King Abdullah to promise a modern electoral law granting citizens two votes at district level, a key demands of opposition parties and other political forces who have vowed to boycott the polls.
"Reform efforts will not be successful unless Your Majesty corrects the reform path to encourage greater participation in the elections. No one wants to see a boycott," the petition reads.
Signatories also called for the formation of a national consensus government to redraft the electoral law and pave the way for upcoming elections.
The letter delivered to the king  highlighted unity and successful political reform as key to protecting Jordan from the "dangers looming over the region" and the instability plaguing neighbouring states, stressing to King Abdullah II that "citizens need his efforts to restore faith in the reform process."
This petition comes one week after a royal decree approved a controversial amendment to electoral law that has sparked a nationwide boycott campaign.
Detractors describe the law as certifying a one-person, one-vote electoral system they claim has produced a series of "rubber stamp" parliaments and has limited the representation of political parties.
Political forces and coalitions suspended their boycott calls earlier this month after the King called for the law to be amended.
However, political groups followed through on their boycott threats after lawmakers failed to revise the one-person, one-vote electoral system and instead raising the number of seats allocated at national level through proportional representation from 17 to 27 out of the 150-seat house.
Officials have expressed little interest in postponing the polls, with Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh indicating last week that authorities are set to hold early elections later in December.