Journalists to elect new president, council members Friday

AMMAN — Members of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) will elect a new president and members of the syndicate’s council on Friday in the first professional union elections to be held in the Kingdom since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.اضافة اعلان

A total of 1,142 journalists who are eligible to vote will cast their ballots to elect a new president, vice president, and a nine-member 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 half plus one of the registered members, otherwise the election would be deferred to the following Friday and held with those who attend. 
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 to ensure compliance with lockdown orders.

According to Barmawi, voters will have to provide proof they received their vaccination or submit a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours before the day of the vote. 

Before proceeding with 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 election of 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, vice president and members, will carry different colors.

He pointed out that the number of candidates running for the position of president are three, while five are competing for vice-president. 

A total of 29 are vying for seats in the nine-member council, Barmawi said, adding that the numbers reflect the count as of Sunday.

He indicated that the window for submitting candidacy for elections 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.

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