Meanwhile, Prince Feisal, the Regent, visited the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, where he was briefed by Minister Nader Thuheirat on the registration process and preparations for the July 31 polls, the first under a new law governing the process.

Of the total of those registered, no less than 726 people will compete for the coveted mayor position in 93 municipalities across the Kingdom, according to figures released Tuesday by the ministry. The figures show that five women are vying for the post of mayor.

The government hopes this year’s elections would witness a record-breaking turnout with the number of registered voters exceeding 1.9 million.

Prince Feisal, who was accompanied by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and Minister of State for Legal Affairs Khalid Samara Zu’bi, stressed the need to develop facilities and ease procedures to ensure maximum participation in the polls, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Thuheirat, who is scheduled to hold a press conference today, said the central control room will be receiving ballot statistics on an hourly basis, while a press room will “enable journalists to cover the polls without obstacles”.

A team of 12 location supervisors and 20 field liaison officers will be managing 30,000 employees staffing 1,980 polling booths.

The majority of candidates are likely to be independents as opposition parties opted mostly to keep away from the elections, party officials told The Jordan Times.

Political activists blame “the unfriendly political atmosphere” and a growing fear of government interference in the outcome of the polls.

“Municipal elections arrived after a difficult period that saw more restrictions imposed on public freedoms and freedom of expression. Recently amended legislation such as the Political Parties, the Press and Publications and Public Assembly laws were detrimental,” said Saeed Khreisat, spokesman for the Higher Coordination Committee of Opposition Parties and secretary general of the Jordan Unity Democratic Party.

Khreisat said his party nominated no more than five people, one of whom was an independent but “shares the same values with our party”.

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the largest opposition group and the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood fielded candidates to run for mayor in Zarqa, Irbid, Madaba, Tafileh, Russeifa and Karak, according to Nemr Assaf, head of the IAF election committee.

The group also named a woman, Arwa Kilani, among 12 candidates to run for membership in the Greater Amman Municipal Council.

Assaf called on the government to conduct free and fair elections and put an end to what he claimed to be “attempts to rig the votes”.

“We sent the Ministry of Interior several letters urging action against some people who illegally transfer registration of voters from one district to another.”

An official from the Municipal Affairs Ministry dismissed the allegations as baseless.

“The ministry is keen on allowing the largest sector of the society to participate in the elections, as voters and as candidates,” said Mohammad Malkawi, spokesman for the ministry.

He said “the registration of voters was conducted in line with the law and we have never received any complaint from citizens about the election process.

“Those who were not happy with transferring their registration from one place to another could have complained to court. They had enough time to do so.”

The government hopes the municipal elections would be a useful tool in its preparation for the parliamentary elections, expected in November but no final date has been set.

The new Municipal Law gave the government the authority to appoint Amman mayor and half of the council members, while the other half are elected.

The legislation also introduced a 20 per cent quota for women in each municipal council — a minimum 220 out of the 965 municipal council seats.

In the 2003 municipal elections, only five of the 46 women who ran won, prompting the government to appoint 97 women to local councils.

The changes to the law lowered the age of eligible voters from 19 to 18 years to expand the voter base.

Voters will also be able to elect mayors directly. The older version of the law put that in the hands of the government, which also appointed half the members of councils.