Islamists vow ‘new experience’ as they return to House

AMMAN — The National Coalition for Reform, which represents the Islamic Action Front (IAF) and its allies, will compete for the Lower House speakership, coalition president Abdullah Akaileh said on Saturday.

"We will prove our integrity…. We will push for reform," said Akaileh, who was elected on Saturday to head the coalition.

 Speaking at a meeting with journalists at IAF headquarters, Akaileh (Amman 2nd District) said that the coalition will seek to form a parliamentary bloc with other MPs, and that it would develop a programme if it had the chance to form a government. 

To form the bloc, the "strategic" coalition is willing to cooperate with MPs, regardless of their affiliations, who seek to build the country through initiatives and whose views align with the coalition’s positions, he added. 

IAF Secretary General Mohammad Zyoud expressed "relief" over the results of the elections, despite "violations, hardships and unacceptable measures", citing alleged incidents of vote buying. 

"We are concerned with opening up to all segments of Jordanian society," he said, adding that stronger social cohesion and greater public trust in Parliament were needed. 

The IAF participated in this year’s elections after boycotting the polls in 2010 and 2013. 

In previous remarks, Zyoud said the party boycotted the votes because of the one-person, one-vote electoral system, the "interference of authorities" in the electoral process and "forgery of the elections results" in 2007.

The new Elections Law discarded the one-person, one-vote electoral system and replaced it with a voting system in which candidates run for parliamentary elections on large tickets at the constituency level.

Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of the IAF’s higher elections commission, said the coalition succeeded in forming the first and largest parliamentary bloc, headed by Akaileh. 

He noted that the coalition was  observing the role of members of the 18th Parliament towards the formation of the upcoming government. 

“Will their role be limited to inefficient deliberations or will there be a new experience in the institution that lost the public’s trust due to past performance?” Bani Rsheid asked.

“We will put our hands in those of all respectable members of the [18th] Parliament to form a national parliamentary bloc for reform in order to deliver a performance that Jordanians have not seen for a long time,” he pledged.

Also on Saturday, the coalition assigned Dima Tahboub (Amman 3rd District) as the spokesperson of the coalition’s parliamentary bloc, and Hayat Mseimi (Zarqa 1st District) as the bloc’s rapporteur.

The coalition won 15 seats in the Tuesday’s elections for the 18th Parliament, including 10 members of IAF, the political wing of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.