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Ammon News - AMMAN The Muslim Brotherhood political party which boycotted last week's parliamentary elections on Tuesday criticized the polls citing "rampant" irregularities and vote-buying, Jordan News Agency Petra reported.

Head of the Islamic Action Front IAF, the Brotherhood's political arm, Hamza Mansour, told a press conference that the government did little to curb violations, "except for acting during the last few days before election day." Mansour said the 56.8 percent turnout announced by the government was grossly exaggerated, adding that "the percentage of those who participated did not exceed 35 percent of eligible voters."

He said the Brotherhood might hold consultations with its partners "to challenge the constitutionality of the elections law, because the government had held the polls in the absence of national concord and portrayed the boycotters as a narrow segment with private agendas seeking power in the shadow of the Arab Spring."

The IAF chief also cited political money and other irregularities related to vote-counting and the delay in announcing final results, calling for formation of "a national salvation government," Petra reported.

Commenting on a visit to Jordan by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal and his meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah, Mansour said: "We welcome meetings between the Jordanian leadership and the Hamas movement and continuing channels of communication between them."