Jordanian protesters from the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and other opposition parties take part in a demonstration after Friday prayers in the capital, Amman, on January 27, 2012, to demand for serious political reforms. (-/AFP/Getty Images)
A Jordanian official said that Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour would prefer not to create any problems with the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. Senate leader Taher Al-Masri expressed his own view on the matter in an official meeting, saying: “The traditional relationship between Jordan and the Muslim Brotherhood is not one of exclusion. Jordan has operated on a different model from other Arab states with respect to working with the Brotherhood, one based on mutual understanding—especially since the movement is moderate and far removed from extremism. The best course of action is to leave the relationship as it is without any changes and without linking it to the current developments in Egypt.”
Masri also asked the movement to carry out its programs and hold positions regardless of the Muslim Brotherhood’s failed experiment in power in Egypt. Jordan’s Brotherhood publically criticized King Abdullah II’s visit to Egypt and his meeting with interim president Adly Mansour, during which questions were asked about the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and its functioning in the same mindset as before the ousting of President Mursi.
Nonetheless, every political party involved understands the importance of Egypt in Jordan’s politics and that communication between the leadership of the two countries is crucial. The Muslim Brotherhood, which boycotted the recent parliamentary elections in Jordan and has also decided to boycott the local elections due to take place at the end of this month, is still studying developments in Egypt. Indeed, a meeting of the organization’s advisory council was called last week to discuss the developments in Egypt, the ousting of Mohamed Mursi and its effect on the movement’s work in Jordan.
The council chairman Nawaf Obiedat told a press conference that the council had researched the Egyptian situation in detail and had agreed on the necessity of continuing internal demands for reform. He emphasized that Jordan’s Brotherhood should not relax its interest in internal affairs and or be influenced by the Egyptian crisis. However, he added that the Egyptian crisis is not confined to Egypt alone, stressing the organization’s support of the Egyptian Brotherhood.
Unlike its Egyptian counterpart, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), have traditionally enjoyed a positive relationship with the political establishment. They used to have a coalition relationship—indeed the founder of Jordan, King Abdullah I, opened the organization’s first premises in the country in the late 1940s. The cordial relationship continued between the Brotherhood and King Hussein and in 1957 he invited their former leader, Abd Al-Rahman Khalifa, to form a government following the overthrow of Sulayman Al-Nabulsi’s government—the first elected government in the history of Jordan. However Khalifa refused the offer, expressing his organization’s support for the authorities without being in power. The relationship remained one of coalition, as was manifested in the 1989 election when the IAF won 22 out of 80 seats in parliament and in 1990 had five ministers serving in Mudar Badran’s cabinet.
The relationship began to change after the government passed the election law known as the “one man, one vote” law in 1993. The Brotherhood saw it as specifically aimed at curbing their influence, as it favored the rural, tribally dominated parts of Jordan. However, the Brotherhood stood in the elections and won sixteen seats. Then came the 1994 Wadi Araba peace treaty between Jordan and Israel that furthered the deterioration of the relationship between the government and the organization. The Brotherhood would eventually boycott the 1997 election, which at the time was thought to have caused further tension between the government and the Islamist movement. The organization returned to the political fray in the 2003 election and won 17 of 110 seats. In 2007, the IAF only managed to win six seats. Since 2007, the Brotherhood has boycotted every election and remained outside government in Jordan.
