The parliamentary elections held on 8 November 1993 were the first multi-party elections since 1956, but the proportional representation voting system was replaced by the controversial one man, one vote system. The latter system was introduced to limit the Islamist opposition's representation in the House of Representatives, by gerrymandering Palestinian majority areas and encouraging independents over partisan candidates. Consequently, the IAF's seats decreased from 34 to 21 seats out of 80. On 25 July 1994 Rabin and Hussein appeared at the White House and signed the Washington declaration, which announced the "end of the state of belligerency." Subsequent negotiations culminated in the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, signed on 26 October in a ceremony in Wadi Araba. The treaty was a culmination of over 58 secret meetings over 31 years between Hussein and Israeli leaders. The treaty recognized Jordan's role in Jerusalem's holy sites, which angered Arafat who had sought such a position. Jordan's relations with the United States greatly improved: $700million worth of Jordan's debt was forgiven by the United States Congress, and Bill Clinton's administration authorized a substantial flow of aid to Jordan. After 1995 Hussein became increasingly critical of Saddam's rule in Iraq.