Muslim Brotherhood wins 15 seats in Jordan’s parliament

by WorldTribune Staff, September 23, 2016

The political arm of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood wound up winning 15 seats after votes were tallied in this week’s parliamentary elections.

Analysts say the Islamic Action Front won enough seats in the 130-member parliament to be a vocal opposition but not enough to challenge establishment legislators.

Islamic Action Front candidates wave to supporters at a rally in Amman. /Reuters
Islamic Action Front candidates wave to supporters at a rally in Amman. /Reuters

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Jordanian branch cut ties with the region-wide movement based in Egypt in March 2015.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing had boycotted elections in 2010 and 2013 to protest the previous system, which it said unfairly favored pro-monarchy tribal representatives.

The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was designated by the kingdom as a terrorist group in December of 2014. One of its top members was later charged with “souring ties with a foreign country” by criticizing the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The kingdom arrested several members of the group after they publicly criticized the government for not taking stronger measures to censure Israel after the Gaza war in the summer of 2014.

The Jordanian branch objects to the country’s peace treaty with Israel and has often organized protests calling for its cancellation.

In 2012, Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized the naming of a new ambassador to Israel, saying the move was “an act of provocation towards Jordanians.”

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