Islamists gear up for elections in Jordan amid widespread voter apathy
The Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, reverses its decision to boycott parliamentary elections.
Jordan’s King Abdullah put an end to speculations concerning giving an extension to parliament, whose four-year term has expired, when he issued a decree dissolving the legislature on Sept. 27, thus confirming that general elections will be held on Nov. 10 as planned. Accordingly and following the constitution, the government of Omar Razzaz must resign within days and a new prime minister will be named.
A week before, on Sept. 21, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood — the Islamic Action Front (IAF) — announced that it had decided to contest the November elections. The decision was adopted after lengthy internal debates following a series of legal and political setbacks the movement had sustained this summer. On July 16, Jordan’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court, ruled that the Muslim Brotherhood is dissolved by law and no longer has legal status, for failing to correct its status in compliance with Jordanian laws. The ruling, which could be appealed, was the culmination of years of legal battles where lower courts had recognized the group’s status and restored access to their assets.
Also in August, the government suspended the kingdom’s largest professional syndicate with over 100,000 members, the Teachers Association, and arrested its board of directors on corruption charges. The authorities cracked down on protesting members and arrested over 1,000 teachers. The Teachers Association is known for its close ties to the Islamist movement.
IAF Secretary-General Murad Adaileh told Al-Monitor that the decision to participate in the elections was taken after extensive internal discussions. “We decided to run in order to confront pressures aimed at weakening the Jordanian state so that it accepts the 'deal of the century' and settle [Palestinian] refugees permanently in the kingdom, which coincides with the normalization race with the Zionist entity,” he said. “We wanted to be the voice under the dome that expresses the Jordanian people’s rejection of such pressures.”
