Islamic Action Front becomes largest party in Jordan parliament

Jordan's opposition has made significant gains in the country's parliamentary election, initial official results showed, boosted by anger over Israel's genocidal war in Palestine's Gaza.

The Islamist Action Front (or IAF) won up to a fifth of the seats, according to preliminary figures confirmed by independent and official sources on Wednesday.

"The Jordanian people have given us their trust by voting for us. This new phase will increase the burden of responsibility for the party towards the nation and our citizens," Wael al Saqqa, head of the IAF, told Reuters news agency.

The IAF benefited from a new electoral law that encourages a bigger role for political parties in the 138-seat parliament, though tribal and pro-government factions will continue to dominate the assembly.

The win has allowed them to capture a total of 31 seats for the first time since parliamentary life was revived in 1989, allowing them to emerge as the largest political grouping in the country's parliament.

The IAF had 10 seats in the previous parliament elected in 2020 and 16 seats in the 2016 legislature.

'Political pluralism'

In a country where anti-Israel sentiment runs high, following Tel Aviv's carnage in Gaza, the party has led some of the largest protests in support of Palestine.

Independent Election Commission chairman Musa Maaytah told a news conference where he announced the official results that the IAF's rise was a sign of Jordan's "determination to have political pluralism".

The election represents a step in a democratisation process launched by King Abdullah as he seeks to insulate Jordan from the conflicts at its borders and speed up the slow pace of political reforms.

Turnout among Jordan's 5.1 million eligible voters in Tuesday's poll was low at 32.25 percent, initial official figures showed, up slightly from 29 percent at the last election in 2020.

Astonishing result

The other seats in parliament went to representatives of major Jordanian tribes, leftist parties, pro-government factions, centrists, former lawmakers, and retired military officers.

Twenty-seven women won seats in the legislature, following 2022 reforms that allocated more seats for them and reduced the minimum age for candidates.

That reform also expanded the number of seats from 130 to 138 and sought to strengthen the role of political parties in the legislature.

Jordan in 1994 signed a peace treaty with Israel, becoming only the second Arab state to do so after Egypt, but regular protests have called for the treaty's dissolution since the war erupted last October.

Oraib Rantawi, head of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, described the opposition gains in the election as "astonishing in their magnitude".

IAF won "nearly half a million votes", a figure he said was unprecedented in their history in Jordan.

"Gaza played a major role in this," he added.