The 2003 Jordanian general election was the first parliamentary election under Abdullah's rule.[36] Although the election was supposed to be held in 2001, it was postponed by the king due to regional political instability in accordance with the Jordanian constitution (which authorizes the monarch to postpone an election for a maximum of two years).[36] His postponement was criticized by the largest Islamist opposition party in the country, the Islamic Action Front (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood), who accused Abdullah of impeding the democratic process.[36] He inherited a controversial single non-transferable vote electoral system, implemented by his father in 1991, which hobbled Islamic political parties after they obtained 22 of 80 seats in the 1989 elections.[36] Abdullah issued a royal decree before the election, introducing an amendment to the election law giving women a six-seat quota in Parliament.[36]