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Muslim Brotherhood, Army Veterans Call to Boycott Jordanian Elections
(Winnipeg Free Press-Canada) Samuel Segev - The growing privatization in Jordan, combined with increased unemployment, rampant corruption and a sharp decrease in Arab financial assistance, has thrown Jordan into its sharpest economic crisis in years. In an effort to contain growing domestic unrest, King Abdullah dissolved parliament and set Nov. 9 for new elections. Yet both the Muslim Brotherhood and army veterans are calling for a boycott of the elections. The Muslim group, assisted by West Bank Palestinians who became full Jordanian citizens in 1950, are demanding the inclusion of about 1.2 million Palestinians who came to Jordan after the 1967 Six-Day War. Despite the fact that they are fully integrated into the economy, academia and the media, they are qualified as "displaced" and have no political rights. In contrast, the army veterans who number more than 700,000 are totally opposed to the participation of those "displaced" Palestinians in the next elections. They argue that should these 1.2 million Palestinians participate, the percentage of "authentic" Jordanians will decrease from 57% to 43%. "Jordan will not be Jordan anymore" and the country will be usurped by the Palestinians, they argued.