AMMAN: King Abdullah II has described Wednesday’s parliamentary polls as a success, and that the newly elected lower house will form a new government.

Results of the elections showed that no political party performed well in the elections for 27 of the 150-seat lower house.

The best performer was the Centrist Party, which secured three seats followed by two other parties which won two seats each. All others scored on seat each, according to results announced by the Independent Elections Commission (IEC).

Twenty-three of the 61 political parties had competed for the 27 allocated seats.

Around 57 per cent of registered voters took part despite a boycott announced by the Muslim Brotherhood and some leftist groups.

Each voter had two ballots — one for individual candidates in the constituency level and one for political parties at the national level.

King Abdullah, speaking during a meeting with a delegation of international monitors of the polls, described the process as a landmark and affirmed that it signalled the beginning of a parliamentary government system experiment, said a royal court statement.

The King said authorities would take the observations of the monitors into account to develop “flawless election procedures” in future polls.

Noting that the voter turnout was more than those during the parliamentary elections of 2003, 2007 and 2010, the king said the figure reflected “Jordanians’ commitment to expand their participation in political life and the decision-making process.”

Abdullah voiced hope that the newly elected Lower House would efficiently undertake its legislation and monitoring tasks, and help the country build on its previous accomplishments.

The gradual reform process will not stop, he said, and its course will be determined through debate, compromises and consolidation of the ideas of different segments of Jordanian society.