AMMAN, 19 June 2003 — Jordan’s main Islamist politicians regained a major foothold in Parliament, final results showed yesterday, and they promised vocal opposition to the government for the first time in six years.
Islamists, speaking after a parliamentary election on Tuesday, said they would call for a more critical approach to the United States and Israel and make officials more accountable to popular wishes.
“We will make our voices heard and hold accountable any government that gives away people’s rights and becomes a strategic ally of Jews and Americans,” said Sheikh Mohammad Abu Faras, who won a seat in Amman.
The final results were announced by Interior Minister Qaftan Majali who rejected claims by the Islamic Action Front (IAF) of allowing ballot box fraud by some candidates.
“Where is the fraud? You see for yourselves the high votes they (Islamists) captured!” Majali told reporters angrily.
But he admitted some voters were detained on suspicion of ballot box irregularities.
Islamist leaders accused the government of committing major ballot fraud in some rural constituencies and said they were deliberating a response and even hinted they might pull out.
Overall, the election preserved a traditional tribal and non-party composition. Majali said 58 percent of 2.3 million eligible voters turned out, slightly higher than 56 percent in the 1997 polls. The 765 candidates included 54 women.
Tribal figures and pro-government forces won at least two thirds of the 110-seat assembly under a system which favors tribal constituencies over heavily populated cities.
Prominent local Islamist leaders who stood in districts in the capital, Amman, all won by large margins.
The cities, where support for the Palestinian uprising against Israel is high, are inhabited mostly by Jordanians of Palestinian origin.
Preacher Sheikh Abdul Monem Abu Zant got one of the highest votes in the capital, while Ali Sukar, a leading campaigner against normalized ties with Israel, won a sweeping victory in the city of Zarqa, east of Amman. Some officials also said the image of the assembly would be improved.
