Brotherhood-linked bloc wins seats in Jordan assembly

By Mohamed Akil

AMMAN

The National Alliance for Reform list -- which includes candidates from Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood -- clinched at least 13 out of 130 seats in parliament according to preliminary results of polls conducted Tuesday.

"After a hiatus of more than two parliamentary rounds [8 years], Islamists are set to return to Jordan’s parliament," Kazem Ayesh, a former member of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

Tuesday’s polls were conducted under a newly-established system of electoral lists, which was announced late last year.

Along with Brotherhood figures, the National Alliance list consists of nationalist, Christian and Circassian candidates.

The list provided voters with "a comprehensive program for reform", Ayesh said, going on to note that, this time around, the Brotherhood had abandoned its traditional slogan, "Islam is the solution".

He went on to predict that the National Alliance would win at least 14 seats once the vote-count was finished.

The Islamists, he told Anadolu Agency, "have justified their decision to take part in parliament", citing "the need to meet the many challenges -- internal and external -- facing the country".

The Brotherhood’s electoral gains, said Ayesh, "come despite the efforts of government authorities and affiliated forces to limit the Islamists’ influence".