Jordanian PM: government doesn’t want to undermine Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Jordan has said that Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour informed them on Thursday that "the government does not intend to undermine the existing MB group."

In a statement issued after a meeting between an MB delegation and Ensour, the group said the Ensour expressed his deep respect for the group and its pioneering, historic role in Jordan.

The MB delegation included its current controller general, Hammam Said, leader Hamza Mansour, Shura Council member Nawaf Obeidat, Secretary Mohamed Aqel, and Executive Office member Mohamed Shahahde. The meeting came days after the Associations' Registration Office of the Social Affairs Ministry licenced a political association called the Muslim Brotherhood group. The licence was granted in response to a request made by former MB controller general Abdul Majid Thunaibat, whom the group recently fired. The new group is being promoted as an alternative to the existing group.

The MB group had criticized the registration office for granting the licence to Thunaibat and called on it to revoke the decision. It accused the government of having given Thunaibat and his group the green light to submit the licence request with the aim of breaking up the existing group.

An administrative matter

The delegation cited Ensour saying: "What happened in the past few days was the licensing of a new association, and it was not meant to affect the existing (MB group's) situation. The government does not intend to undermine the existing MB group, and any dispute that might arise shall be referred to the judiciary."

We are now the (true) representatives of the MB group. The previous group, the one that existed has become illegal. - Abdul Majid Thunaibat.

Abdul-Majid ThunaibatDuring the meeting, Said said "the group's national renaissance project has always been in the interest of the country and people." He noted that "targeting the group at any stage means targeting one of the main pillars of the homeland." He stressed that "the legitimacy of the group will by no means be undermined."

The prime minister said two days ago that the dispute within the MB group is internal, which the government has nothing to do with. He added the government does not want to be involved in this dispute.

In a statement to al-Araby al-Jadeed after his splinter group was granted the licence, Thunaibat said: "We are now the (true) representatives of the MB group. The previous group, the one that existed has become illegal, now that we have been granted a legal capacity." He added that "the existing organisation is no longer legitimate and virtually dissolved." He noted that "the group was licenced in 1945 as a branch of Egypt's MB and was not a purely Jordanian group.

Thunaibat is scheduled to hold a press conference Friday, to explain in detail what this means for the legal status of the MB group. He is expected to announce the new leadership committees during the conference.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.