AMMAN, 2 August 2007 — Jordan’s main opposition party the Islamic Action Front said yesterday it could boycott legislative elections later this year, a day after it pulled out of municipal polls claiming fraud. “We might boycott dealing with the municipalities or even boycott the upcoming elections. All options are open,” IAF Secretary-General Zaki Bani told AFP.
The Islamists pulled their 25 candidates out of the municipal election race on Tuesday, accusing the government of fraud, a “democratic massacre” and “treason.” The IAF accused the authorities of manipulating votes cast by military personnel who were taking part in municipal elections for the first time.
They charged that hundreds of military personnel were bused from their bases to voting centers where the Islamists had candidates, carrying ballots in favor of pro-government candidates. Jamil Abu Bakr, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose political arm the IAF has 17 seats in Parliament, echoed similar views.
“Boycotting the parliamentary elections is undoubtedly one of the options,” Abu Bakr told AFP. He admitted failure to win seats in Tuesday’s municipal election, but refused to acknowledge defeat in the polls which continued yesterday in Amman because turnout the previous day was less than the required 50.1 percent.
“We did not win any seats in the municipal elections, but we don’t see this as a defeat because the elections were not real and the government lost credibility,” Abu Bakr said. “We asked our candidates to withdraw, and would have asked them to quit even if they had won,” Abu Bakr said.
Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet dismissed the Islamists’ pullout as “illegal,” saying any withdrawal had to come a day before the election. Pro-government candidates swept the elections, the first unofficial results showed yesterday. Several separate incidents marred the vote at some polling stations on Tuesday.
Plain-clothed police clashed with voters in the impoverished Jawa district of the capital, Amman, and three men were wounded, eyewitness Musab Al-Ayed told The Associated Press. Several other incidents were reported, and the semi-independent Al-Dustour newspaper said one man had died of injuries after a police intervention.
Public security spokesman Maj. Bashir Al-Da’aja categorically denied this. “There were some clashes in several areas between voters on Tuesday, but there were no deaths related to the elections,” Al-Da’aja told AP. He did not specify the locations or the reasons for the fights.
Meanwhile, polling was extended for 10 hours in six districts of Amman, where the legally required minimum turnout of 50 percent had not been reached. Polling stations were due to close in those districts at 1400 GMT yesterday and “ballot counting will resume immediately even if the required turnout is not achieved,” said Amman governor Saad Al-Manaseer.
