In preparing his subjects for Jordan's first parliamentary elections in 22 years, King Hussein offered a piece of advice: avoid voting for "extremists." But when voters went to the polls last week, they ignored his warning in fairly spectacular fashion. With 647 candidates running for 80 seats, the biggest winner turned out to be the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. Its candidates and supporters won 34 seats. The Communists and others of the far left also made gains. By contrast, the moderate factions that Hussein has entrusted with day-to-day power for more than two decades suffered heavy losses.
The elections were prompted by...
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