Islamic Action Front

Islamic Action Front Jabhat al-'Amal al-Islami جبهة العمل الإسلامي
Leader	Hamzeh Mansour
Founded	1992
Headquarters	Amman
Ideology	Islamism Conservatism
International affiliation	Muslim Brotherhood
Chamber of Deputies	6 / 110
Website
IAF official website
Politics of Jordan Political parties Elections

The Islamic Action Front (Jabhat al-'Amal al-Islami, Arabic: جبهة العمل الإسلامي) is a political party in Jordan. It is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.

Founded in 1992 with 350 initial members, Engineer Ahmed Azaida, Dr Ishaq Farhan and Dr Abdul Latif Arabiyat were the main force behind the formation.

Sheikh Hamzeh Mansour is the chief of the IAF and has declared the organization's intentions as eventually wanting "to be treated as free men" and as wanting "relations with the US based on mutual respect", while questioning US Administration's motives in the Middle-East and around the World.

History

In 1997, three years after Jordan's peace accord with Israel, IAF boycotted Parliamentary elections, citing manipulation by the government.^{[citation needed]}

At the legislative elections, 17 June 2003, the party won 20 out of 84 seats. All other seats were won by non-partisans. The National Democratic Block did not win any seats.

During the August 2007 Municipal Elections, IAF withdrew their 25 candidates up for election, accusing 'the authorities of manipulating votes cast by military personnel who were taking part in municipal elections for the first time.

The voter turnout for the election was a record-low 51%, but IAF still won four contests, including two mayorships.^{[citation needed]}

Four months later, the IAF fielded 22 candidates for the Jordanian national elections held on November 20, 2007. Of its 22 candidates, only 6 successfully won parliamentary seats in the elections, marking the lowest showing of the Islamist party since the resumption of parliamentary life in Jordan in 1989.

The IAF attributed its loss to the government overlooking illegal practices such as vote buying, the transfer of large amounts of votes, and inserting large amounts of voting cards in ballot boxes Nevertheless, a few days after the election, the Muslim Brotherhood (the social organization that informs the IAF’s platform and whose political branch the IAF is considered to be) dissolved its Shura Council and started preparing for internal elections to take place within 6 months.

In 2009, the deputy secretary of the party declared that the Pope was not welcome in the kingdom, after plans were announced for Pope Benedict XVI to visit the country.

Ideology

The Islamic Action Front is more liberal than Islamist parties in some other countries. For example, they recognize democracy, pluralism, tolerance of other religions, and women's rights as key to Jordan's development process and they do not support extreme revolutionary movements. They oppose Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, Fatah al Islam while sympathizing with Hamas. The IAF's support base is primarily Palestinians residing in Jordan. The IAF act as the conservative element in Jordan's Parliament representing the traditional segment of society. Unlike in Egypt and Lebanon, Jordan's IAF backs the royal family and government and does not undermine it. They support the Palestinian cause and they oppose bilateral ties with Israel.

The IAF's survival in Jordan is primarily due to its flexibility and less radical approach to politics.

External links

• Website