The Jordanian Royal Court announced - in a statement today, Sunday - that "Jordanian King Abdullah II decided to dissolve the current parliament, in preparation for holding legislative elections on the tenth of next November."
Reuters quoted Jordanian officials as saying that the decision to dissolve Parliament means, according to the constitutional rules, that the government must resign within a week, paving the way for elections in November.
A Royal Decree was issued to dissolve the House of Representatives, starting today, Sunday, the twenty-seventh of September, 2020 AD # Jordan pic.twitter.com/xSu6NSn9OV
- RHC (@RHCJO) September 27, 2020
The constitutional mandate of the House of Representatives expires at midnight on Monday.
Under the Jordanian constitution, the king has the right to dissolve the parliament, and it is he who issues orders to hold elections for the parliament.
The king also decided to dissolve the Senate (the second chamber of parliament) and reconstitute it.
The royal court said that the king decided to appoint the new parliamentarians, and the statement included a list of the names of the 65 new formation of the council.
King Faisal also chose Akef Al-Fayez as Chairman of the Senate, to assume his position as of today.
The House of Notables - including the president - consists of a number not exceeding half the number of the House of Representatives (the first chamber of parliament, with 130 seats), and the members and the president are appointed directly by the king, in accordance with the Jordanian constitution.
The term of presidency of the Senate reaches two years, and it is permissible to extend for a second term, while the term of membership in the Council is 4 years, and the king may reappoint those whose membership term has expired in the new council.
On August 31, 2016, the government approved a new electoral bill that abolished the "one vote" law, reduced the number of parliament seats from 150 to 130, and allowed the voter to vote for more than one candidate within an open proportional list system.
The controversial "one vote" system has been in place since the 1990s, and provides for one vote for the voter to choose one candidate.
About 1.5 million voters out of 4.1 million eligible to vote participated in the last parliamentary elections, compared to 1.2 million voters in the 2013 elections.