Islamists lose bar association elections to pan-Arabists, independents

AMMAN — Lawyer Mazen Irsheidat on Friday won the presidency of the Jordan Bar Association, defeating his Islamist opponent, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday. 

The two rivales had to go through a second round as they failed in the first to secure 50 per cent of the votes, the agency said.

In the second round, Irsheidat, a pan-Arabist, received 2573 votes, defeating Islamist contender Yahya Abu Aboud, who garnered 2334 vote.

The Islamists were also defeated in the race for the Jordan Bar Association Council’s seats, to Arab pan-nationalists and independents, local reports said. 

The winning members are Khaldoun Ensour, Adel Tarawneh, Walid Adwan, Mohammad Abu Zanad, Rizq Shqeirat, Nasser Kamal, Anas Shatnawi, Iyad Batayneh, Iyad Al Bou and Zaki Hadaddin.

A total of 7098 lawyers took part in the elections, out of 12,250 syndicate members eligible to vote as they had paid their membership fees. 

The Islamic movement, the term used to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood group and its affiliates, have been struggling over the past years to dominate the bar association, but they have found tough competition from independents and Arab pan-nationalists, who took over the outgoing council headed by Samir Khirfan.

Last year, the Islamists received a heavy blow when they lost their clout at the Jordan Teachers Association, the largest in the Kingdom in terms of membership base and traditionally an easy win for Islamists.