A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Early Take on Jordan Elections

The Jordanian elections yesterday saw at least one person killed in violence in a town near Kerak. With turnout claimed to be 53% of registered voters, it's down from 58.9% in 2007, possibly due to the boycott by the Islamic Action Front. The Jordan Times has a page of links to election day stories. I had not realized the election date was also the fifth anniversary of the Amman hotel bombing of 2005.

With the Islamic Action Front (essentially, the Muslim Brotherhood) boycotting, nobody is going to be sitting by the TV watching the vote count. The IAF boycotted because an electoral reform (or "reform" if you prefer) weakened urban candidates at the expense of rural, where the monarchy's traditional tribal support lies.

Above right, the King watches returns at the Interior Ministry, watched over by a picture of himself.

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