Rules of the game changed in ‘Brotherhood-state’ relationship

AMMAN— The rules of the game in the establishment-Muslim Brotherhood relations have changed after authorities closed the group’s offices 70 years after its establishment in the political landscape, observers have agreed.

The authorities on Wednesday raided the headquarters of the old Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Abdali, downtown Amman, and ordered staff there to evacuate the offices and sealed the place. 

Similar measures were reported in Jerash, Irbid and Karak, with Interior Ministry officials declaring that all such facilities would be shut down, depending on legal action taken by a rival group. 

Stakeholders and experts interviewed by The Jordan Times said the latest developments in such a relationship are “unprecedented”.

For Badi Rafaiaa, the group’s spokesperson, the anti-Brotherhood crackdown is “politically motivated and illegal”. 

Rafaiaa, who admitted that the [old] MB has a history of alliance with the establishment, told The Jordan Times that the regional atmosphere has played a part in the latest moves by authorities, which deny the claim, insisting that the MB has not rectified its legal status in line with the law, which makes it illegal and gives legitimacy to the recently licensed Muslim Brotherhood Society, led by heavy-weight MB defectors.

Rafaiaa said: “We have always  been considered a legal group, with property registered in our name, among other issues… there is something beyond the legal issue.” 

Meanwhile, political analysts Oraib Rentawi said the crisis between the old MB and authorities is another episode in the fluctuating relationship between the two sides in the history of Jordan.

But he agreed that “rules of the game” have changed this time, and “no one can tell how it will end”.

He echoed Rafaiaa’s view that this crisis is about politics, not regulation. 

For his part, Ibrahim Gharaibeh, a political analyst and author with a Brotherhood background, said the government is serious about pushing the group to rectify its position.

He told The Jordan Times, the group strongly rejects to register in Jordan because this means that names of all members will be disclosed, in addition to sources of funding and all assets.

However, for another columnist, both MB and the establishment have taken the wrong approach to the crisis.

Rakan Saaideh, Al Rai journalist and commentator told The Jordan Times that the group should have corrected its status earlier to avoid consequences that it must have seen coming. He said that the intransigence made the job of authorities easy.  

However, he charged that the way through which authorities dealt with the group lacked “reason”.

Waning popularity

Although Rantawi acknowledged that the group’s popularity in Jordan has waned, he argued that it still has its supporters.

“The group might surprise us in the near future, namely in the next parliamentary elections, or any fair and free elections that might take place in the country in the future”.

He also noted that no one took to the streets to show support for the Muslim Brotherhood group, because even members of the movement themselves decided not to react this way.

Rafaiaa confirmed the group decided to resort to the judiciary instead of taking to the streets.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the MB’s youth wing said they have decided to put off all its activities as an act of protest against the “attack” against the group.

In addition, the movement called on the government to stop raiding the MB’s premises and return them to the original owners.

The statement said the postponement of the youth activities came to prevent any clash, claiming that there had been threats of action against them in case they held activities.