The Media Line Staff
Amman, Jordan (TML) – Jordanian authorities have put security forces and police on red alert during the past two weeks as concern that Tunisia’s unemployment revolt which toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali could ignite an already angry Jordanian public.
The army, gendarmerie and other police units have been banned from leaving their bases as concern grows that ripples of Tunisia’s political earthquake could reach the small kingdom.
A demonstration last Friday organized by the opposition to call for economic and political reform was the latest in a spate of protests around the cash-strapped kingdom.
Nearly 4,000 people showed up in an event dubbed “The Day of Rage” to vent their anger at Prime Minister Samir Refai, whom many accuse of being out of touch and imposing economic policies that impose intolerable burdens on ordinary people.
A key U.S. ally in the heart of the Middle East, Jordan is more strategically situated than Tunisia since the kingdom borders Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. But in many other respects, the Jordan and Tunisia have much in common. Both have sought to build progressive and stable societies based on the rule of law, secularism, women’s’ rights and rising standards of living.
But neither has ever developed a full-fledged democracy, nor have they been able to cope with joblessness, poverty and inequality – all factors that brought down Ben Ali earlier this month. Joblessness in Tunisia is about 13% and the rate among young people is considerably higher.
“The economy in Jordan has certain contradictions. It suffers from unemployment of 14% — 150,000 who are people looking for jobs,” Jawwad Anani, an economist who served as royal court chief and finance minister for the late King Hussein, told The Media Line. “We need a strategy, a well-thought-out strategy that everybody believes in and can take this society to a higher level.”
Even before the situation in Tunisia exploded five weeks ago, Jordan was experiencing a wave of unrest amid growing tension between the country’s Bedouin tribes and its urban Palestinian population. But economic problems are looming as an increasingly important factor as global food prices rise.
Under guidance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jordan’s government two years ago lifted subsidies on fuel and raised taxes to generate badly needed income that could help trim a yawning budget deficit of $2 billion. Economists estimate the government generates nearly 600 million Jordanian dinars ($900 million) in profits annually from selling fuel to its own citizens.
Meanwhile, many of the jobs that the economy is creating are going to expatriate guest workers. Anani estimated that about 750,000 jobs are filled by non-Jordanians, including a half million Egyptians and smaller numbers from Syria and Iraq.
For now, the situation in the conservative kingdom remains under control. There have been no violent confrontations between police and protestors. The government has embarked on a flurry of activities aimed at absorbing the anger of the public and the opposition.
The government last week approved a $225 million package to contain rising commodity prices and lower some fuel prices, including $28 million to subsidize prices of basic food items sold in state-run supermarkets. The government also promised to create jobs in the army and security forces to appease disenchanted Bedouin tribes, which make up the majority of the army and security forces and are the firmest backers of the royal family.
Some of the government’s most experienced politicians, including Interior Minister Saad Hayel Srour, Parliamentary Speaker Faisal Fayez and government spokesman Ayman Safadi, have opened up communications channels to opposition leaders to calm the atmosphere. But opposition leaders have greeted the campaign with skepticism.
“They have been a great many meetings with the minister of interior and the speaker of parliament, but what we want is ongoing dialogue and a genuine desire of change,” MP Ablah Abu Elbeh, who is also secretary-general of the leftist Hashed Party, told The Media Line.
The Day of Rage protestors called for the prime minister to step down. Hamzeh Mansour, secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, called on Abdullah to dismiss the government and dissolve what he called an inept parliament.
Even in parliament, which recently gave the government a confidence vote of 111 out of 120, lawmakers last week lashed out at the government for its fuel-pricing policies. But lawmaker Jameel Nemri told The Media Line that changing the government wouldn’t solve the problem.
“It’s meaningless to call on the government to be dismissed. This will just lead to musical chairs game among influential parties in the kingdom. The core issue of helping the poor stand on their feet is what should be addressed, not who is a prime minister,” said Nemri.
Anani, the economist, warned that the kingdom could be facing uncertain future if the government continues to resort to temporary measures, like the make-work schemes it announced for Bedouin tribesmen.
“If we continue to allow the status quo to prevail, we will lose our ability to even develop crash programs to take care of emergency in difficult situations,” he said. “Putting small fires is not going to work very well.”
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