Brotherhood-linked bloc wins 15 seats in Jordan polls

The National Alliance for Reform, which includes candidates from Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood group, won 15 parliamentary seats in Tuesday polls, according to semi-final results announced late Thursday by Jordan’s official electoral commission.

Another three seats, meanwhile, were won by candidates from the alliance-backed Sons of Al-Karak List.

Along with Muslim Brotherhood figures, the National Alliance includes nationalist, Christian and Circassian candidates.

About two thirds of the Alliance’s 15 winning candidates hail from the Brotherhood, while the remaining third consist of Christian candidates or candidates sympathetic to Jordan’s Islamist current.

The Brotherhood boycotted the last two parliamentary polls to protest Jordan’s "one vote" law, which last year was replaced by an electoral list system.

The National List’s electoral victories "represent a fresh opportunity for the Islamists to return to Jordan’s political stage", Amer al-Sabaylah, a Jordanian political analyst, told Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, the so-called "Muslim Brotherhood Association" -- recently established by former Brotherhood figure Abdul-Majid al-Thunaibat -- clinched only one seat.

According to semi-final results, 39 sitting MPs retained their seats, while 16 former MPs returned to the assembly after a hiatus.

Most seats were divided between tribal, moderate and business candidates, meaning Jordan’s executive authority will have little difficulty passing legislation, while the incoming government will be able to secure the assembly’s confidence by a comfortable majority.

Five female candidates also won seats, bringing the total number of women in the assembly to 20.

None of the pro-government leftist candidates won at the polls, while several long-sitting MPs -- including Saad Hayil al-Surour, first elected to parliament in 1989 -- lost their seats.

According to the electoral commission, 37 percent of the country’s eligible voters -- roughly 1.5 million out of 4.1 million -- cast ballots in Tuesday’s polls, which saw 1,252 candidates vie for 130 seats in the assembly.