The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, has achieved a historic result during the legislative elections held on Tuesday, September 10 in the Hashemite kingdom. According to official results announced on Wednesday evening, 31 of the 38 candidates presented by the opposition movement were elected to parliament. A breakthrough that observers, who had expected a lower result, had not anticipated. If the IAF consolidates its position as the leading party in parliament, its deputies will be in the minority within the 138-seat chamber, dominated by representatives loyal to the monarchy.
This election took place against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. Whether or not they are of Palestinian origin, the population has been living to the rhythm of the conflict since October 2023, denouncing the violence of the reprisals launched by the Israeli army against the Palestinian enclave following the bloody attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Many Jordanians have joined the boycott of American brands that are considered to support Israel or are donating to humanitarian aid transported by the kingdom to Gaza.
Islamists, along with the left, were central to the organisation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Amman. Held every week, they periodically call for the revocation of the peace agreement with the Jewish state signed by Amman in 1994. The IAF took advantage of this anger, as well as the great sympathy for Hamas, also on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood, viewed positively by most Jordanians, who see it as a force of resistance. “Gaza, Palestine and Jerusalem are all [des éléments] from the official and popular compass in Jordan »Wael Al-Saqqa, secretary general of the IAF, welcomed the results of the vote and called on Jordanians to continue supporting the Palestinians. “on the road to liberation”.
The IAF candidates had been under pressure from the security services in the months leading up to the elections. The movement appears to have chosen not to antagonise the Hashemite power, although its result appears to be a challenge to Amman’s line on Gaza.
Jordan is a close ally of the United States and France; it calls for an end to the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave while maintaining its security cooperation with the Jewish state. The crown is hostile to Hamas, whose political representation was banned in the kingdom in 1999, and therefore favors its weakening in Gaza, without saying so publicly. But at the same time, it fears the destabilization that forced displacement of Palestinians would cause; concern has reached a new level since the recent series of Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank. The head of Jordanian diplomacy, Ayman Safadi, accused Israel, in early September, of “fight another war” in this border territory of the Hashemite Kingdom.
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