Jordan: Islamists Win Bar Association Elections

The Islamic movement won most seats in the Jordanian bar association elections, including the post of the bar head.
 
The slate of the Islamic movement won a landslide victory in the elections of the Jordanian bar association on Saturday March, 24, 2007, garnering most seats including the post of the bar head, which is won for the fourth time in a row by lawyer Saleh Al Armouti in the election run-off.
 
Al Armouti beat four other candidates: Abdul Rahim Abu Qamar (independent), Omar Damra (independent), Mazen Arshidat (National), Gawad Yunus (National); Al Armouti won 1775 votes, while his National rival Mazen Arshidat won 1583 votes, while the other three withdrew after the first round of the elections .
 
40 lawyers competed on ten seats for members; all the Islamist five candidates won the elections:
Amin Al Khawalda, 1726 votes
Ziad Khalifa, 1451 votes
Nasser Kamal Nasser, 1344 votes
Abdul Wahab Al Agawi, 1331 votes, and
Samih Khris 1318 votes,
As for the other candidates who won the election:
Shahid Karzoun, 1310 votes
Fathi Al Daradka, 1307 votes
Yahya Abboud, 1281 votes
Samir Kharfan, 1225 votes
Bassam Farihat, 1179 votes .
 
7044 lawyers who are members in the General Assembly of the Jordanian bar association took part in the run-off elections for the new association the required quorum wasn”t met in the first round.
 
For his part, Zaki Bin Arsheed, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) party said that this landslide victory proves that the Jordanian people need the Islamic option .
 
Bin Arsheed added in a statement to Ikhwanweb that the win of the Islamists in the bar association clearly proves that the Jordanians are convinced with the program that the Islamists presented, and that the Islamists succeeded in propagating for their reformist programs.
 
Bin Arsheed pointed out that there have recently been various government fierce attacks on the Islamists, including the issue of aiding Hamas, MPs who paid last respects to Al Zarqawi and attacking the Islamic Charity and other attacks; however, the Islamists overwhelming election success in the bar syndicate elections confirms that the Jordanian government failed in distorting the image of the Islamists among Jordanian people.