Manufacturing consent in Jordan

In 1989, the late King Hussein of Jordan ended a three-decade suspension of parliamentary life by ordering a general election and ushering in a new era of democratisation. Two years later, the country's political parties signed a pact which included the state's commitment to allow political freedoms and the legalisation of political parties. In return the opposition agreed unequivocally to work under rather than challenge Jordan's monarchy. But the pact, called the National Accord, has repeatedly been violated by consecutive governments, which sought to undercut the opposition even though no element within it has publicly or secretly worked to undermine the political system. In 1993, as the Arab world moved into negotiations with Israel, the government formulated an electoral law that effectively provided wider representation for rural and tribal areas and narrower representation for major urban centres, such as the capital Amman and neighbouring Zarqa.