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In Jordan’s capital Amman a Muslim Brotherhood-organised protest has been attended by some one thousand people who chanted anti-government slogans and called on the government to step down.
The protest was the first to take place since parliamentary elections, which the Brotherhood boycotted, which were held on January 23rd.
Following the vote, Jordan's King Abdullah II inaugurated the country's newly-elected parliament with a pledge to press ahead with democratisation, but said he will help pick the next prime minister even though that job is now officially in the hands of the lawmakers.
Observers say the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has been driven to seek more power following the rise of the party’s branches in Tunisia - the cradle of the Arab Spring – and in Egypt. The Jordanian Brotherhood says it boycotted last month’s parliamentary vote because electoral law in its current form favours the king’s loyalists and allowed them to get the best share of parliamentary seats.
