The reply came in a letter addressed to Khasawneh by the Brotherhood’s leader, Hammam Saeed, and the Secretary General of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the group’s political arm, Hamzeh Mansour, upon decision taken by their respective executive bureaus, according to a statement.

Both men and other leading Islamic figures were involved in two rounds of talks with Khasawneh over the past few days with a view to convincing the largest opposition entity to join the new Cabinet. King Abdallah last week sacked Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit’s government amid mounting protests and asked Khasawneh, an International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge, to form a new Cabinet and tasked it with carrying out political reform.

However, the Islamic movement described its talks with the premier-designate as “positive” and wished him success in carrying out “real reform that responds to the demands of the people who should restore their right as the source of powers through peaceful means.”

The Brotherhood made it clear that such reforms should lead to the appointment of prime ministers with majorities at Parliament, the election of the upper house of Parliament instead of appointing its members by the king, the enactment of an election law that produces lower house truly representative of the people and the cancellation of the State Security Court.

The opposition also called for stopping the encroachment on the Cabinet’s powers by the General Intelligence Department and the Royal Court.