"The Council has decided to dissolve itself after two days of deliberations as a protest against the unprecedented rigging of the elections," the Muslim Brotherhood's Deputy Secretary-General Jamil Abu Bakr said.

He expected a detailed statement to be issued shortly about the decision, which came in the wake of the echoing defeat the group suffered at the general elections.

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the Brotherhood's political arm, fielded 22 candidates but won only six seats at the newly elected 110-member lower house of Parliament, compared with 17 seats in the previous elections of 2003. The Islamists' defeat was blamed mainly on differences between moderates and hard-liners inside the group over the candidate's list, which reportedly comprised only elements supportive of reconciliation with the government.

Abu Bakr indicated that the dissolution of the Consultative Council would pave the ground for the election of a new leadership for the influential group. The Muslim Brotherhood also levied criticism against the government, saying the elections were rigged.

"The fraud and government interference in the electoral process resulted in the winning of other candidates at the expense of the Islamists," Abu Bakr, told reporters. The government has repeatedly denied the allegations.

"The Shoura Council, which made the decision to participate in the elections, felt responsible and decided to dissolve itself," Abu-Bakr added.

The 51-member council made the decision during a meeting late Thursday. Abu-Bakr said the group would not withdraw its representatives from Parliament and would elect a new Shoura Council within the next six months.

Loyalists to Jordan's King Abdallah won a majority of seats in last week's elections. The IAF nearly won a majority in the legislature in 1989, but its popularity has declined because it has failed to deliver on its promise to improve living conditions in cash-strapped Jordan, where poverty and unemployment are rampant.

Also Thursday, Abdallah appointed the 55 members of the upper house of Parliament, including Abdul-Majid Thneibat, a former head of the Brotherhood, local media reported. The new Senate also includes a record eight women, an attempt at increasing their political power.

The king has historically included a small number of Islamists in the government as an attempt to co-opt the opposition, including Abdul Rahim Akour, a former deputy head of the IAF who has been a member of the Cabinet since 2000.

Abdul Jalil Mustafa

© Arab News 2007

 

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