Amman - Official results of Jordan's parliamentary elections
as declared by Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez Wednesday showed that
Islamists have received a severe blow unprecedented in two decades.
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the country's largest political
party, won only six seats at the new 110-member lower house of
parliament, compared with 17 seats in the previous elections that
were held in 2003.
The IAF accused the government of 'collusion with violations and
rigging practices,' but al-Fayez told a press conference Wednesday
that the polling process was conducted at 'the highest degree of
transparency and neutrality'.
An IAF spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr told reporters that his group was
demanding the 'cancellation of results in constituencies where
rigging occurred.'
He cited vote buying, manipulation of voting cards and preventing
candidate representatives from attending the counting of votes.
Observers blamed the Islamists' echoing defeat on a number of
factors including internal feuds, steps taken by the government to
tarnish the image of the country's Islamic movement and the takeover
of the Gaza Strip by their Palestinian ally, Hamas.
At least 25 members of the outgoing house were returned in the new
chamber which overwhelmingly consists of businessmen, independents
and technocrats who counted on tribal and faction support to win
seats for the first time, observers said.
Falak Jamaani was the second woman in Jordan's history to win a
seat at the lower house of parliament through direct competition.
Six other women won seats in lieu of the feminist quota that was
introduced for the first time in 2003.
A total of 885 candidates, including 199 women, competed in
Tuesday's elections for the house's 110 seats.
Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit was expected to tender his
government's resignation to King Abdullah II to pave the way for the
formation of a new cabinet, officials said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
Your Talkback on this Story