Chamber:
	Majlis Al-Nuwaab
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	4 November 1997
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the House of Deputies on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 1 September 1997, the House of Deputies was dissolved by Royal Decree and the election date was set. Altogether, 524 candidates (including 17 women) contested the 80 seats at stake. Most of these were tribal leaders with no party allegiance. Contending groups were led by the National Constitutional Party that was formed earlier in the year through the merger of small pro-Government parties. The opposition - headed by the Muslim Brotherhood's fundamentalist Islamic Action Front (IAF) - largely boycotted the poll to protest a series of interim laws issued during the parliamentary recess, especially one concerning the press. In foreign affairs, these groups also opposed Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel. In the absence of the opposition boycotters, the three-week campaign focused primarily on local economic issues rather than national policies. On polling day, the tribal candidates who supported King Hussein and were mostly centrist secured a total of 68 seats while the remaining 12 went to independent fundamentalists and their leftists allies. In this context, Prime Minister Abdul-Salam Majali continued in office at the head of the unchanged Cabinet.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (4 November 1997): Elections results
Number of registered electors	1 480 000 (approx.)
Voters	47.45%

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Tribal Chiefs	68
Independent fundamentalists	12

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	80
Women:	0
Percent of women:	0