Jordan Muslim Brotherhood demand parliamentary government from king

Feb 4, 2011, 12:05 GMT

Amman - Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood leaders have told King Abdullah they want serious political reforms that lead to the formation of a 'parliamentary government', the movement said in a statement Friday.

The monarch held a landmark meeting on Thursday with the Brotherhood's leader Hammam Saeed, Secretary General of its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), Hamzeh Mansour and other prominent Islamic figures.

'The Islamic movement has made it clear that the political reforms should start with a modern election law that adopts a system of proportional representation and leads to the formation of a parliamentary government,' the statement said.

The Muslim Brotherhood also called for the introduction of 'all necessary constitutional and legal amendments that ensure political partnership with all other effective forces in the society'.

The king ordinairily appoints prime ministers and, to a large extent, cabinet ministers from people with distinguished records in the public life, due to the absence of political parties with majorities or coalitions at the parliament.

The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to change the state into a constitutional monarchy, sources within the group said.

During Thursday's meeting, Abdullah acknowledged that the political development process in the country had been thwarted by the 'hesitation' of officials to carry out reforms - but also by certain pressure groups which sought to enhance their own interests.

Under pressure from the Jordanian street and opposition parties that drew fresh fuel from the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, Abdullah sacked the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai despite it winning confidence vote with an unprecedented large majority at the lower house of parliament.

The king's appointment of ex-premier Marouf Bakhit as new prime minister sparked complaints among Islamists, who accused Bakhit of 'rigging' the 2007 parliamentary elections with the avowed aim of undermining their chances in the polling process.

The IAF then returned only six deputies, compared with 17 in the previous 110-member chamber.

Against this backdrop, the IAF boycotted the November 9, 2010 elections citing the failure of Rifai's government to come up with an election law that ensures proportional representation at the parliament.

Read more about Jordan Politics