'Islamist party will not dissolve'

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The Islamist Centrist Party (ICP) has reconsidered its recent decision to dissolve, according to ICP officials.

The move is a reversal for the party, which had originally voiced its intention to disband following a poor showing in the November 9 parliamentary elections.

“After some consultation with party leaders and other officials, we decided against dissolving the party and instead give it a chance to contribute to reform,” said a party statement issued late Thursday.

Last week, the ICP’s political office urged activists to start legal procedures to disband the party, according to party leaders.

Marwan Faouri, head of the political office, said the group decided to reconsider the decision in order to work for “the greater interest of the party” and push for political and social reform.

He said party leaders met with former minister of interior Nayef Qadi and other senior officials to discuss dissolving the party as well as government reform policies.

“We were close to dissolving the party, until we heard His Majesty the King’s Speech from the Throne, where he called for active political life,” Faouri told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.

The party had initially decided to disband in light of a disappointing performance in the parliamentary elections, in which one of its members managed to secure a seat.

The party fielded 11 candidates in Jerash, Zarqa, Madaba, Amman and Tafileh, but only Musa Zawahreh from Zarqa was elected to the Lower House.

The dismal showing for the party, which has nearly 1,500 members concentrated in urban areas, had been a cause for “political soul-searching”, according to party officials.

November’s parliamentary elections culminated in a poor showing for opposition parties across the country.

None of the eight candidates fielded by a coalition of opposition parties representing the Hashed, Jordan Baath, Jordan Communist and National Unity parties won a seat, except Abla Abu Olbeh, secretary general of Hashed Party, who won through the women’s quota after securing 10.2 per cent’s of the vote in Amman’s First District.

The Islamic Action Front, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, boycotted the elections in protest against the Elections Law.

In 2007, the IAF was the only political party to reach the Lower House of Parliament, winning six seats, its worst showing since the reintroduction of political life in 1989.

12 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32532.