Pandemic politics? In Jordan, it has leveled the playing field.
Lamb feasts, mass gatherings, concerts, and cash. Elections in Jordan were long synonymous with extravagance and socializing: heavy on cholesterol, light on politics.
Yet with the COVID-19 pandemic raging throughout the country, this November’s parliamentary elections are looking very different for Jordanian voters like Khaled Saud who are long accustomed to being wooed in person.
In elections past, wealthy tribal sheikhs and businessmen would erect tents and, in a festival-like atmosphere, host hundreds of relatives, neighbors, and undecided voters for nightly banquets, including sweets, coffee, and promises of jobs – even cash.
But more than ever before, the pandemic has pushed Jordanian politics and politicking out of the tents and into the world of online human engagement.
“I am Googling candidates’ [backgrounds and qualifications] before the Facebook rally starts,” says Mr.
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