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All this foreshadows the politicking that must be done in the coming weeks — and is already going on in private between the party leaders. Al-Nahda has an advantage in coalition building; as the bigger party, it would likely need only a few coalition partners to form a cohesive majority. Already, the party has announced that it will be looking to make such alliances after the elections, the party's leadership says.
"The Islamists, when we met with them, told us that they have no intention of governing alone even if they win a majority of the vote — that they are looking for a coalition," said Marwan Muasher, a leader of the National Democratic Institute's observation mission and a former foreign minister of Jordan in an interview on Sunday.
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