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The political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood won a sizable share of seats in Parliament, though not enough to challenge the government’s pro-Western tilt.
Sept. 11, 2024, 3:38 p.m. ET
An Islamist party that made opposition to the Israeli invasion of Gaza the centerpiece of its campaign scored a significant success in elections in Jordan, results released in the kingdom on Wednesday showed, giving the Muslim Brotherhood a bigger foothold in Jordan’s Parliament.
The Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned in several countries in the Arab world, will now control a sizable bloc in Parliament, according to results announced by the electoral commission. It won 31 of the 138 seats.
But the government will likely retain a substantial majority, given that two parties allied to it secured around 70 seats combined. Independent deputies and those representing smaller parties, as well as deputies selected under a quota system, are also likely to back government policies.
So while Islamists may now have a greater voice in Jordan, the kingdom’s reputation as one of the more stable and electorally open countries in the region will probably not be shaken, analysts said.
“It’s a result that the government will be broadly happy with,” said Neil Quilliam, an expert in Jordanian and regional politics at Chatham House think tank in London.
Mr. Quilliam described the vote as a safety valve of sorts for public anger over the Israeli assault against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of people have been killed.
