Old Brotherhood cries foul as internal elections banned

AMMAN — The Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday cried foul as authorities prevented the group from holding its “internal elections”, questioning the government’s intentions for banning the elections planned in April.

A senior official attributed the decision to a motion made by its rival group, the Muslim Brotherhood Society, which comprises defectors from the mother group, which now claims that their organisation is the sole legitimate Brotherhood entity. 

Muath Khawaldeh, the group’s spokesperson, said the move by the government is “unprecedented” in the Kingdom’s political life.

“This is a violation of the law,” Khawaldeh told The Jordan Times.

Amman’s Governor Khaled Abu Zeid, who calls the shots regarding such activities, said: “The Muslim Brotherhood is not registered, thus it is not allowed to conduct elections.”

“Any such gathering should be legal and they should be a legal entity to conduct any gathering,” Abu Zeid told The Jordan Times, adding that there is another society registered with the same name and it is the legal entity.

In response to some MPs’ query about the reasons behind banning the Muslim Brotherhood from holding a meeting to elect its shura council members, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Mohammad Thneibat said the new licensed group has filed a complaint with the governor challenging the legality of the meeting.

The Muslim Brotherhood group was considered “illegal” after the registration of Muslim Brotherhood Society a year ago, an initiative that was led by Abdul Majeed Thneibat, as the legitimate replacement of the older group. 

The original Muslim Brotherhood was licensed in 1946 as a charity affiliated with the mother group in Egypt and was relicensed in 1953 as an Islamic society.  Although the group modified their by-laws two months ago, ending their affiliation to Egypt, they are still considered “illegal” by authorities as they are not registered.

“This decision prompts us to reconsider many issues, including current [internal] negotiations for taking part in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” Khawaldeh said.