Leaders of Jordan's Islamic Action Front resign over differences

May 8, 2009, 17:57 GMT

Amman- Leading members, including the secretary general, of Jordan's largest political party, the Islamic Action Front, resigned Friday, citing 'differences in viewpoints.'

'The step is designed to allow the Consultative Council an opportunity to elect a new and more coherent Executive Bureau that supervises the party's march in the coming stage,' Bani Ershaid, who resigned as secretary general, told the German Press Agency dpa, without going into details.

However, local press recently reported 'deepening differences' between hawks and doves of the IAF Executive Bureau over a variety of issues.

The IAF, the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement, suffered a setback in last year's general elections when the number of its deputies in the lower house of parliament fell from 17 to 6.

At the time, the party accused the government of former Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit of 'rigging' the polls as part of a policy of cracking down on Islamists and depriving them of the chance to form a solid political bloc.

The present government of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi seemed to allow Islamists a margin of freedom during the 22-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip last winter, when Islamists gathered crowds that demonstrated against Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

However, the government appears to have changed its policy and adopted a tougher attitude towards Islamists after the Gaza ceasefire.