By Walid Khadduri

The Muslim Brotherhood has taken to the streets of ‘Amman and other Jordanian cities every Friday since the start of the Arab Spring, some 20 months ago. On 5 October, the Brotherhood planned a mass rally of over 50,000 members and supporters from some 80 other political groups and professional/trade unions that was billed as Jordan’s first major event of the Arab Spring. However, this attempt to escalate the protests caused a split within the Brotherhood itself. The moderates sought to use the marches to rally the opposition under the leadership of the Brotherhood and open a dialogue with Jordan’s King ‘Abd Allah, while the radicals wanted to use the protests to escalate their confrontation with the authorities.

For their part the authorities permitted the demonstration to go ahead with police protection. However on 4 October the king ordered the dissolution of parliament, and therefore the resignation of the cabinet and the holding of elections by the end of the year. The authorities also “persuaded” many of the associated groups not to participate in the march. (For example, “The Youth Coalition of Loyalty and Allegiance” – one of the groups that had called for the rally in support of the Brotherhood – announced on 4 October that after a series of meetings with the Public Security Department it had decided to postpone its march until further notice.)

As a result, the number of demonstrators barely totaled more than 10,000, and only a handful of organizations joined the Brotherhood. Slogans at the demonstration called for constitutional reforms “placing people at the center of authority,” the formation of parliamentary governments, an end to the security services’ “interference” in political and public life, fighting corruption, the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

So far in the Arab Spring campaigns against dictatorial republican regimes, Arab nationalists and leftists have fought side-by-side with the Islamists and the Brotherhood. But although the nationalists and leftists share common political objectives with the Brotherhood, they are concerned about the swift ascendancy of and monopolization of power by the Brotherhood in Egypt, the decline of secularism in Syria and the role of NATO in Libya.

Emboldened Brotherhood
The fact that the Jordanian Brotherhood is now taking to the streets to demonstrate represents a new development. Historically, the Brotherhood has not only been a supporter of the monarchy, but has participated in previous cabinets, especially during the reign of the late King Husain. The Brotherhood even functioned publicly (unlike other political movements, which were prohibited) and participated in several parliamentary elections. The question now is whether the Brotherhood, emboldened by the victories of the “Arab Spring,” has decided to start challenging the conservative monarchies or the Gulf sheikhdoms such as Kuwait and the UAE. (The UAE Foreign Minister told a joint press conference in Abu Dhabi last week that “the Muslim Brotherhood ideology does not believe in the nation-state, nor in the sovereignty of states. Hence, it is not surprising that the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood continues to work against the sovereignty of the states and their laws.”)

The nascent challenge to conservative hereditary regimes can be seen not only in Jordan but also in Kuwait (as evidenced by the parliamentary gridlock with the government) and the UAE. However, the Brotherhood’s challenge to the authority of conservative Arab monarchs and sheikhs will probably deprive it of the support it has received so far from several conservative Arab regimes, and may make the Islamists think twice about their policies and objectives.

The Brotherhood has so far challenged the competence and transparency of conservative regimes, but not their legitimacy. It remains to be seen how long it can pursue such a policy in the evolving political climate of the Arab Spring, and whether the new options opening up will lead to splits within the ranks of the Islamist movement.