ABC News: Jordan's King Abdullah Open to Constitutional Monarchy

ABC News: Jordan's King Abdullah Open to Constitutional Monarchy: "ABDULLAH: Well, unfortunately, this is the problem that we've been dealing with. We have 30 political parties, none of which really have any political platforms, and the problem that I've been facing is that next parliamentary elections, in two years time, I don't want parliament officials being elected because they belong to this tribe or this village or this particular constituency. I want them to be elected on a party political platform. And this is one of the reasons why we moved into this decentralization, this sort of regional program, to try and get grass-root process in creating two or three parties that represent left, right and center. " In other words, and much as the Shah did in earlier decades in Iran, the monarch will permit the establishment of two or three well-vetted parties to cover the supposed ideological spectrum, i.e., left, centrist and right. Also recall Sadat's similar efforts in the 1970s.