Pro-king politicians have won more than half of the seats in Jordan's parliamentary elections, according to near-complete results declared by yesterday morning.
The victory by allies of King Abdullah II had been expected as Jordan's political culture heavily favors the tribal leaders who owe their allegiance to the Hashemite dynasty.
The Interior Ministry had announced the results in Tuesday's elections for 100 of the Chamber of Deputies' 110 seats by yesterday morning.
The leading opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, had won 17 seats. Front spokesman Hamza Mansour has accused the government of irregularities, saying that electoral officers ``colluded'' with certain candidates.
Tribal leaders loyal to the king had won nearly 40.
Other pro-government politicians, including former legislators and ex-Cabinet ministers, took more than 20 seats.
Supporters of victorious candidates fired bullets in the air in street celebrations that began in the pre-dawn hours yesterday.
The elections were the first in six years. The king dissolved parliament at the end of its four-year term in 2001 and repeatedly postponed elections because popular sympathies were swept away by the Israeli-Palestinian violence in the neighboring West Bank. More than half of Jordan's 5.1 million people are of Palestinian origin.
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