Jordan braces for 50,000 strong Islamist demonstration

Jordan braces for 50,000 strong Islamist demonstration
Published Thursday, October 4, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jordan-braces-50000-strong-islamist-demonstration

A showdown is looming between Jordan's government and the Islamist opposition, with two massive rival demonstrations slated for Friday in the capital Amman, raising fears of an escalation of tension.

According to organizers, around 200,000 supporters of King Abdullah II's plans for reforms will rub shoulders with an expected 50,000 backers of the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition bloc, with the rallies set to take place at the same time at the same location.

"Our demonstration will be peaceful and civilized," said Zaki Bani Rashid, a Brotherhood official, reiterating the group's demands for a "fair electoral law, a serious fight against corruption and constitutional reforms."

"We will not challenge anyone, and we will not provoke anyone," he added.

He dismissed as "provocative rumors" claims that the rally would call for the king to leave power, blaming "suspicious parties who want to spark a crisis."

"We must stop demonizing the Islamist movement, and stop inciting it."

In response to a protest movement that has since January 2011 called for political and economic reforms, King Abdullah II has announced elections due to take place before the end of the year.

The Muslim Brotherhood, however, has said it will boycott the polls as they did in 2010, to protest a lack of reform, arguing that the electoral system favors rural regions seen as loyal to the government.

They have instead called for a parliamentary system where the prime minister is elected, rather than appointed by the king. They have not called for the king to leave power.

The demonstration, dubbed "The Friday of the country's salvation," has called for Islamists to march from the Al-Husseini mosque after midday prayers to Al-Nakhil Square, about a kilometer away.

At the same time, around 200,000 people are expected to attend a rally to "support the king's reform plans," said Jihad al-Sheikh, one of the organizers of the rival demonstration which is being held under the banner "Allegiance and Belonging."

Demonstrators will wear hats and T-shirts bearing photos of the king, and will be ferried from various parts of Jordan to Al-Nakhil Square aboard more than 100 buses, Sheikh said.

"The goals of the Muslim Brotherhood demonstration are questionable," he said.

"They are looking for a confrontation, and anyone who supports the interests of Jordan should face them."

According to analysts, the pro-government rally is an attempt to undermine the opposition.

"This time, it is not just about a show of force, but an attempt to crush the other side and that is dangerous," said Oraib al-Rintawi, the head of the Al-Quds Centre for Political Studies.

"The Islamists have led several peaceful rallies that have been within the framework of the law" and Friday "will not be an exception," he said.

Rintawi dismissed "rumors that the Brothers want to get into a confrontation with the police."

(AFP)
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Demo planned after Jordan king calls early polls
October 05, 2012 09:28 AM
Agence France Presse
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-05/190233-demo-planned-after-jordan-king-calls-early-polls.ashx#axzz28PkYMy4h

AMMAN: Jordan's Islamist opposition was to hold a rally calling for reform on Friday, hours after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament and called early polls, defying calls for major changes to the political system.

The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests to have taken place in Jordan since January 2011 to call for political and economic reforms and demand an end to corruption.

"The king has decided to dissolve the chamber of deputies from this Thursday and to call early elections," a statement from the royal palace said. It gave no date, but the monarch has said he wants polls to be held by the end of 2012.

The opposition Muslim Brotherhood said earlier it was going ahead with its planned rally in central Amman after Friday prayers, with the group predicting an estimated 50,000 supporters would attend.

A planned rival demonstration in support of the king's plans, due to be held in the same location as the opposition protest, was meanwhile "postponed indefinitely ... to avoid any problems," said Jihad al-Sheik, head of an Internet-based youth group that organised the planned event.

The cancellation came "after a request to that effect from the director of general security, Hussein al-Majali, MPs and tribal leaders" to prevent unrest.

Around 200,000 people had been expected to turn up at the demonstration in Amman to show their support for the king's efforts to bring in reforms.

The king has repeatedly voiced calls for early elections, but the Brotherhood has said it would boycott the polls as it did in 2010 to protest the lack of meaningful reforms, while calling for a parliamentary system where the prime minister is elected, rather than named by the king.

In an exclusive interview with AFP last month, the king said a decision by the Islamists to boycott the vote was "a tremendous miscalculation."

"As constitutional monarch, my mandate is to be the umbrella for all political groupings and all segments of our society, and as part of that responsibility, I am telling the Muslim Brotherhood that they are making a tremendous miscalculation," he said.

"The countdown to the elections has already started. Registration is under way. We have already crossed the one-million person mark. Parliament will be dissolved. The elections date will be announced. And we will have a new parliament by the new year."

The Islamists and other opposition parties had said they were considering a boycott over a new electoral law under which voters cast two ballots -- one for individual candidates in their constituencies and one for nationwide party lists.

King Abdullah ordered parliament to increase the number of seats reserved for party candidates in a bid to persuade the Islamists to take part in the polls.

MPs raised the number from 17 to 27, but that did not go far enough for the opposition.

"This elections law is not perfect. We all understand that. But there is no better consensus on an alternative. What is critical is that we keep going forward, and -- mark my words -- we will have a new parliament by the new year," the king said.

"So I am telling the Muslim Brotherhood, you have a choice. To stay in the street or to help build the new democratic Jordan."

According to the constitution, elections take place every four years, but Jordan held early polls in 2010 after the king dissolved parliament.

The Islamists boycotted those elections in protest at constituency boundaries, saying they over-represented loyalist rural areas at the expense of urban areas seen as Islamist strongholds.