AMMAN, Sept 9 (Askume) – Jordan’s main opposition party, angered by Gaza war, expresses hopeIts Islamists are set to win a landslide victory in Tuesday’s election, a powerful challenge to the country’s pro-Western stance. The result could send shockwaves through the kingdom’s stable political landscape.
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, said parliament needed its voice to reverse unpopular economic policies, oppose laws restricting public freedoms, and oppose further normalisation with Israel.
“It is enough to have a significant faction that can influence public opinion and the general political scene,” Murad Adela, chairman of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood and an ideological ally of Palestinian group Hamas, told Askume.
In a country where anti-Israel sentiment is high, the war in Gaza is expected to help the electoral fortunes of the Israeli Air Force.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Amman to celebrate on Sunday after a Jordanian gunman shot dead three Israeli civilians at a border checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
The IAF has fielded only 38 candidates in the 138-seat parliament and is unlikely to displace tribal, centrist and pro-government lawmakers who dominate a system that gives less representation to cities, where their Islamist and liberal opponents did best.
But the Islamists’ demands to cancel the peace treaty and end trade ties with Israel have angered officials, who have urged their supporters to come out and vote for an Israeli attack on Gaza.
“What is happening in Gaza today is an existential conflict, and neither Jordan nor the Islamic Movement can remain silent. The voices on the streets of Jordan have been heard and they have an impact,” Adela said in an interview on Monday.
He said the State of Jordan needs a strong Parliament more than ever and believed the IAF’s vocal presence in Parliament could enhance Jordan’s capabilities to stand up and respond to any pressure from Israel and Western allies if necessary.
Adela echoed the sentiments of many in Jordanian politics who fear that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to launch a wider war that would push Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank into Jordan.
Voting system favors tribal areas
The Indian Air Force is participating in the election despite opposing the voting system, which it believes is biased against it. They are demanding wider political representation following changes to the electoral law passed in 2022.
“This law does not fulfill our ambitions, but it provides a recipe for progressive political reform,” Adela said, referring to the law that will for the first time allow more than 30 licensed political parties and 41 major pro-government parties to become direct parties.
Officials said the vote marked a milestone in the democratisation process initiated by King Abdullah, paving the way for political parties to play a bigger role.
Results are expected within 48 hours of voting, with parliament expected to be in the hands of tribal and pro-government factions that are unable to make major changes.
Still, analysts say the election could stir up Islamists in Jordan’s bleak political landscape.
“As long as we do not engage in direct and blatant interference at the ballot box, we expect to obtain a supermajority from these elections,” Adela said, without specifying how many seats he expected to win.
The party, whose slogan is “Through Islam, we defend the nation,” said authorities used communal pressure to push dozens of Indian Air Force candidates out of the race.
“This will affect our chances,” Adela said.
Politicians and analysts say the vote will now test the Islamists’ grassroots support. Most candidates with a limited political agenda focus their campaigns on economic conditions such as unemployment, public services and inflation.
