The draft Local Administration Law 2026 redraws the features of the relationship between the center and the peripheries in the Jordanian administrative system, amid mounting controversy over the extent of this law’s ability to transform municipalities from service bodies into actual partners in local development decision-making, in light of the state’s tendencies towards deepening the path of decentralization and expanding popular participation.
The draft comes as an extension of the political modernization system launched by the Jordanian state, which included the Parties Law and the Election Law, in an effort to re-engineer the structure of local government and enable municipalities to play a broader development role, especially since about 70 percent of the services provided to citizens fall within the scope of its responsibility, which makes any reform in this law have a direct impact on the daily lives of Jordanians from the north to the south of the Kingdom.
In this context, the Minister of Local Administration, Engineer Walid Al-Masry, reviewed the most prominent features of the draft law, stressing that the government focused on several axes, the most prominent of which are municipal governance and management, financial discipline, oversight, accountability, planning, and raising the level of quality of services. He explained that the election process will proceed according to the previously established model, where the mayor and members are elected via separate ballot papers for each of them.
Regarding the empowerment of women and youth, Al-Masry pointed out that the draft raised the percentage of women’s representation in municipal council membership to 30 percent, while setting incentives to enable youth to participate effectively in development decision-making. He explained that the Ministry’s role in the draft law is regulatory oversight, pointing out that cadres from the Audit Bureau will be used to monitor aspects of spending and train municipal employees, in addition to the draft’s focus on automation and digitization as two tools for controlling spending and achieving justice in providing services.
On the other hand, the former Deputy Head of the Engineers Syndicate, Engineer Fawzi Massad, expressed, in an analytical reading of the draft, fundamental reservations about its general spirit, even though he acknowledged that it includes positive aspects that are evident in “expanding the tasks of municipal councils in strategic and urban planning, development and service projects, budgeting, and investment, and opening the door more clearly to partnership with the private sector.” However, he explained to Al-Rai that “the essence of the issue is not related to the number of written powers only, but rather to the extent of their clarity, the ability of the municipality to actually exercise them, and the amount of central guardianship that remains over it,” indicating that the draft still gives the government a wide latitude in dissolution, postponement, appointment, inspection, and direct oversight, which weakens the principle of direct local responsibility before the voter.
Regarding the issue of public transport and waste, Massad pointed out that some files are still managed with the logic of contribution and not with the logic of full local jurisdiction, pointing out that the draft does not give municipalities decisive jurisdiction over the transport sector, as it lacks any explicit text on the option of converting waste into energy, despite it being one of the recent trends that was supposed to find a clear place in a law aimed at developing local administration.
Regarding the classification of municipalities, Massad explained that the problem is not in the complete absence of standards, “but rather in leaving them loose and subject to broad assessment,” adding that the article related to annexing municipalities and expanding their borders does not explicitly stipulate taking the opinion of the affected municipalities or the local community, which weakens the democratic dimension in decisions that directly affect citizens.
Regarding the formation of the Provincial Council, Massad described the proposed structure as “large in size, diverse in representation, and heavy in movement and decision-making,” indicating that a large portion of its members are not directly elected by citizens, which reduces democratic representation, which was supposed to be the main goal of decentralization.
Massad concluded that the draft “falls short of establishing a strong and clear local government of responsibility,” demanding that the new law be a real reform step that expands local jurisdiction, reduces guardianship, clarifies responsibilities, and actually links municipalities to direct popular and political accountability.
