Members of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) will Friday elect a new president and members of the syndicate’s council in the first professional union elections to be held in the Kingdom since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.
A total of 1,142 journalists, who are eligible to vote, will cast their ballots to elect a new president, vice president, and a 9-strong council. Acting JPA president Yanal Barmawi said the association is “all-set” for Friday’s general assembly, during which the vote will be held.
For the vote to go ahead, Barmawi said, the JPA’s bylaw requires the presence of the majority of registered members (50+1), otherwise, the election will be deferred to the next Friday and will be held with those present.
The JPA election was supposed to be held in April 2020 but was deferred to this year following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing defense orders and lockdowns.
According to Barmawi, the attendance will have to provide a proof of Covid vaccination or submit a negative PCR test conducted in the 72 hours preceding the vote.
Before the elections, the general assembly will discuss the 2019 and 2020 financial and administrative reports and a recommendation to conduct an actuarial study over the JPA’s Cooperation and Social Security Fund.
With regard to the much-anticipated vote, each voter will have their ballots; one for the president, one for the vice president and another for the nine members of the syndicate’s council.
Barmawi explained that vote counting will be, for the first time in the JPA’s history, machine-controlled while machine-rejected ballots will be counted manually, adding that each ballot (for president, VP and members) will carry different colors.
He pointed out that the number of candidates for the position of president is 3, while 5 are competing for the vice-president. A total of 29 are vying for seats in the 9-strong council, according to Barmawi who said the numbers reflect the count as of Sunday. He indicated that the candidacy window will close at the end of Monday and that the names of the candidates will be announced after approval by the current council on Tuesday.
Source: Jordan News Agency