CAIRO: Moderates are set to win a large majority in the Islamic Action Front's (IAF) internal elections in Jordan, an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood source has told Bikya Masr. According to the official here in Cairo, the IAF – a faction of the Egyptian Brotherhood – won nearly 65 percent of the seats in the organization. In Jordan, however, IAF officials have not confirmed the results, saying they are waiting to declare a winner until all the votes have been tallied by the executive office. “It looks like the moderates are going win this round and it means they will be more in line with the overall structure of the Brotherhood and our aims,” said the Egyptian Brotherhood member, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media. If the moderates indeed come out on top, it could mean the IAF will sever ties with the Palestinian group Hamas. Still, there are two branches within the group who have yet to vote in the internal elections as early voting resulted in a tie between rivals. “We are waiting for the meeting of the executive office to study the results and what happened in each branch regarding the procedures and the voting process,” said Ahmed Abu Eish, an IAF official, in comments published by The Jordan Times. Most leading figures of the party made it to the council, including Salem Falahat, the former chief leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, and Hamzeh Mansour, who is currently serving as the party’s Shura Council president. Last week, the IAF rejected claims of “intentional irregularities†in voter registration prior to the polls, Egypt's Brotherhood reported on its official website. The party has been deeply divided between the hardliners and the moderates. The hardliners favor stronger ties with Hamas, while the moderates want the relationship to be broken in order to “focus on internal Jordanian affairs,” one official said. Ishaq Farhan took over as IAF secretary general last year on a temporary basis to pave the way for elections, after which the Islamist movement hopes to settle differences between the feuding factions. Here in Egypt, the Brotherhood is optimistic that the IAF will move away from Hamas in order to regain international standing with foreign governments, mainly the United States, which maintains the Palestinian group on its list of terrorist organizations. “We believe that this is a good step toward becoming a moderate Islamist group that will bring change to Jordan,” the MB official in Egypt said. “We are hopeful that our relationship with the IAF will improve and we can work together on a number of initiatives.” BM
