Jordan is very trunty
Ala
Jordan Feels a Jolt
By Mona Alami
BEIRUT, Feb 10, 2011 (IPS) - The wave of political protests that has struck
parts of the Middle East and North Africa over the past few weeks has also
affected the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The protest movement here,
initiated in the wake of the Tunisian Jasmine revolution, underscores the
population's demand for political reform.
A movement of discontent over rising prices kicked off early in January in
the city of Theiban, south of Amman. Some 200 demonstrators demanded that
the government take greater control over prices and initiate more anti-
corruption efforts. The movement gained momentum with protests erupting in
Karak and Irbid.
At the end of January, 3,500 people rallied in Amman, led by Islamist
opposition groups, leftist organisations and trade unions. They denounced
the policies of Prime Minister Samir Rifai.
Jordan's economy has a deficit of 1.6 billion dollars. It is largely
dependent on foreign aid and investment to finance deficits in the budget,
while poverty and unemployment run rampant.
Rifai's announcement of a 550-million dollar subsidy package for fuel and
staple products - like rice and sugar - did little to quell the people's
anger. He was quickly ousted and his government dissolved by King Abdullah
II.
"There is a growing feeling of disparity between the economic elite, which
is corrupt, and the rest of the population," says Mohamad Al-Masri,
researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan.
In the Jordanian countryside poverty is more apparent, while the flourishing
business elite lives in wealthy Amman neighbourhoods, Masri said.
In recent weeks, the protestors' demands have morphed into a request for
greater political reform. "We want a government chosen by the majority of
the Jordanian people and we want a balance of power. We will protest until
our demands are taken seriously," Hamzah Mansour, general secretary of the
Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Jordanian Muslim
Brotherhood, told the Jordan Times.
The opposition, spearheaded by the IAF, has called for dissolution of the
Jordanian parliament, which they claim came to power in the 2009 election
because of fraud. It is also demanding new election laws that respect
proportional representation, as well as an amendment to the Public
Gatherings Law.
"They are also asking for the reactivation of the 1952 constitution, which
provided the legislative body greater oversight over the executive," says
Masri