Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The New Political Reform and the Monarchy

The new political reform “road map” being prepared by Political Development minister, Mousa Ma’aytah, has one huge fallacy as if the minister, who is a staunch supporter of political parties’ rights in Jordan, finally succumbed to the pressures of being part of the same government he opposed. The fundamental error in the road map is the prominence given to the institution of the monarchy:

آن الاوان لاعتماد (خارطة طريق) لاصلاح سياسي آمن ومتدرج يأخذ بعين الاعتبار أسس الالتزام بالثوابت الوطنية الاساسية وعدم المساس بها وهي مؤسسة العرش والدستور والاردن وطن لجميع أبنائه

[Time has arrived for the adoption of a secure and gradual (road map) of political reform, taking into account the foundational commitment to the basic national principles and not compromising the institution of the throne, the Constitution, and Jordan as a home to all its citizens.] source


Due to the role played by the monarchy, and the royal family for that matter, and taking into account the history of limiting political freedoms and the taboo that is “political party membership” amongst youths, expecting this reform to take on solid steps and wide participation is impractical.

As long as the king is the Executive Power, little is possible in way of changing the perception of political parties to those most in need of having a say heard.

It’s well known that Jordanian universities’ students are more politically vocal than most other age/demographic groups in the country. However, having to concentrate their indignation at those in the cabinet and the parliament has little to do with concrete political reform. Basically, political reform has a much better chance at succeeding, however gradual, if no person/institution is above criticism.

When law is legislated with the monarchy in mind, the law doesn’t have peoples’ interests as its top priority. When judges hand out convictions and sentences while having the government in mind, little credibility is given to the judicial system. In addition, when the government tells citizens to go ahead and join political parties because it’s encouraged and healthy, their response is: “yeah, right!”


was also posted on 7iber.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

why should Constitutional Monarchy be implemented as soon as possible

King Abdullah made it clear a few years back that he intends on reforming the governing system in Jordan into that of a constitutional monarchy instead of an absolute one. Along with many reforms aiming at decentralizing governance and regulating political parties, constitutional monarchy is the most pressing.
Everyone in Jordan can agree that king Abdullah enjoys a relative popularity in the country. That popularity has seen a decline, I believe, due to the increase in reporting on government corruption and a wide spread dissatisfaction with the parliament. With the ascent of online news portals and the obvious attention given to those sites and their news, Jordanians are more vocal than ever before.
This decline in popularity, if left unchecked, might lead to chaos in a country that has grown accustomed to a head of state figure of a true king. I don't mean that King Abdullah is otherwise. But, the perpetuating high level, major corruption cases might lead the average Jordanian to the thought that the king himself is "aware but doesn't care."
The expedition of the transfer to constitutional monarchy, along with an elected government and both houses of parliament, might be what's needed to salvage that popularity or what's left of it.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What are the real reasons behind the "Regions Plan"?

I have been following the regions plan (مشروع الاقاليم) since its inception. Until this moment, I just can't come up with benefits that are concrete enough to rationalize the project. The government has been so vague in discussing the project that it allowed other players in the country to jump in and offer their own versions of reasoning and analysis that have elevated the subject to national level. The discussion, however, is of the uninformed, marred with persistent mistrust, and overwhelming variety.

I would very much like to give the government credit for actually doing things and being busy. But, it stops right there. I just can not help but think of this project as a way to keep people busy. Government employees or average Jordanians, both are trying to sort out the thought process bringing upon them this looming project, with no avail it seems. Being busy, I am afraid, Jordanian style.

In light of the government's understanding that the new American administration would apply more pressure onto political and civil rights progress, the government, I reckon, is trying to keep one front asleep. Just a few years after the "Jordan First" campaign, which had the goal of diverting Jordanians' attention form regional events, comes the Regions Plan to keep people in the sand box.
"One of the project's main goals is to achieve sustainable, comprehensive development across the Kingdom and a fair distribution of services in all governorates within the same region," Qadi said.
If you can't do that in a country with 6MM people and already 12 governorates, what makes you think it could be done with 3 regions?
Come think of it, Jordan is tiny; it doesn't need further division to better manage it; it already suffers from a substantial amount of tribal and national origin discriminatory deeply rooted cultures; and Jordanians already vote "tribalistically."

sometimes I wish we could call for live "senate" hearings.