Youth Participants during the Workshop

Mr. Oraib Al- Rintawi, Director of the Al-Quds Center

Dr. Ahmed Al-Juraibi', Professor of political science

Discussion on the Royal Committee Outcomes after Dinner

Wadi-Finan Ecologe among the Mountains of the Dana Biosphere Reserve

KAS-Jordan Office, in cooperation with Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, held a two-day training retreat for the Youth of Jordanian political parties in Wadi-Finan among the mountains of the Dana Biosphere Reserve. The training workshop was on Saturday and Sunday, September 4th - 5th entitled "Rules of the democratic process: Is democracy a ballot box or a comprehensive cultural, rights-based and political system?" More than twenty young women and men attended the workshop representing twelve Jordanian parties.

During the two-day workshop, many axes related to democracy, civic education, acceptance of others, diversity, respect of other opinions, and other related topics were discussed with young people representing parties from different ideological and programmatic backgrounds. Mr. Oraib Al- Rintawi, Director of the Al-Quds Center and Dr. Ahmed Al-Juraibi', Professor of political science were responsible for the implementation and training for the youth partisan.

On the first day, the participants were introduced to what democracy means and how to apply it on the ground by identifying the basic concepts in the democratic process and civic education such as the civil state, citizenship and the rule of law. Later on, as a guest speaker the head of the Parties Committee in the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System, Eng. Adnan Al-Sawair, held a dialogue about the committee's latest proposals regarding party laws. In particular, how this might enhance the consolidation of the democratic process in Jordan. The dialogue session was very rich in terms of what was debated with the partisan youth and how the proposed laws could strengthen Jordanian parties to increase their presence and role in parliament.

On the second day, the training focused on the promotion of Jordanian cultural and political pluralism through a reading of the Jordanian political parties’ map and the opportunities for integration and alliance among them given their ideological or programmatic tendencies alike. The last session was to sum up all the concepts that were debated during the workshop, followed by an open discussion among the youth and their recommendations on the role of parties and their future vision of political life in Jordan.

Finally, the two-day training workshop met its goals by supporting the capacities of young political party members, and enhancing their knowledge and expertise in party action and general political work. Also, enriching the education of young men and women in political parties in regards to the rules of the democratic process, and emphasizing that democracy is not merely elections and political parties, but rather a comprehensive cultural, rights-based, and political system. It was a great opportunity to gather this group of youth through the parties they represent and their diverse backgrounds, this contributed to the consolidation of concepts of respect for the other opinions, acceptance of others and the formation of friendships among the partisan youth groups.

This workshop was part of a long-term cooperation between Al-Quds Center for Political Studies and KAS-Jordan Office to strengthen the role of political parties.

Author: Sanad Al-Quran