Friday, March 25, 2011

AMMAN: Hundreds of Jordanians set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital Thursday to press demands for the ouster of the prime minister and wider public freedoms.
Jordan is struggling to stave off growing popular discontent after the Islamists rejected a government-led dialogue plan.

The 500 protesters appeared to be mostly university students or unemployed graduates unaffiliated with any political party. Many said they met through Facebook last month to launch a group called the Jordanian Youth Movement.

Group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh said protesters would remain outdoors until Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit departs. Other demands include dissolving what is widely seen as a docile Parliament, dismantling the largely feared intelligence department and giving greater powers to the people.
The group changed its name Thursday to “Youth of March 24” – marking what members said was the start of an open-ended demonstration.

“Today is the dawning of the Jordanian revolution,” said group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh, 23.
“We will not move an inch from here until our demands are met,” he said, in the pouring rain at the Interior Ministry Circle in the heart of the capital. The district houses the Interior Ministry and police, financial and other government offices as well as Western hotels.

Protesters waved banners that called for a “new Jordan, clean of corruption and corrupt officials.” “Intelligence Department, we want your hands off politics!” they chanted.
Khawaldeh said the protesters want Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit to be “instantly replaced with a liberal government that would quickly implement reforms.”

Protester Mohammad al-Qaisi, 23, said the activists want Parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be held under a new election law, giving more proportional representation to Jordanians and reducing the number of votes in districts inhabited by tribesmen, who form the bedrock of support for the king.

“Enough is enough,” said al-Qaisi, an unemployed sociologist.
“We don’t want the king to go, but we want him to listen to us; We’re fed up with al-Bakhit, with Parliament and with Jordan being a police state ruled by the intelligence department.”

Taxi driver Haitham Yassin, 29, said he joined the protest because “I want the king to know that I became a taxi driver because I couldn’t find a job as an electronic engineer.” “My degree went to waste,” he said. “Still, I can barely make ends meet now. I have three children and I can’t meet all their needs because prices are constantly increasing, while my salary remains the same.”  

The Islamists and other groups have been calling for sweeping reforms, including a new electoral law that would lead to a parliamentary government and elected prime minister rather than one appointed by the king.
The government formed a national dialogue commission on March 14 to amend the electoral and political parties laws within three months, in line with King Abdullah II’s instructions.

But four Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have been invited to join the talks refused to take part, demanding the panel discuss “constitutional reforms to empower the people,” Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of political office of the Islamic Action Front, told AFP.

To the dismay of the committee, independent political activist Labib Kamhawi also refused to join in its work, while the leader of the retired officers’ movement Ali Habashnah, has decided to “suspend” his participation, he told AFP.
Senate president Taher Masri, who heads the committee, which now groups 64 members, told AFP Thursday that he is still trying to convince the Islamists to participate in dialogue.
To encourage them, “the commission decided Wednesday to include the issue of constitutional amendments to its electoral law discussion,” Masri said.

“It will examine means to enforce judicial supervision of elections, instead of the Interior Ministry, and review the term of lower house speakership as well as legislative session period – all of which require constitutional amendments,” he added.

“How far can we go in our debate? It is not clear.”
But this is not good enough for the Islamists. “These proposed amendments are superficial. We want substantive change to allow the formation of parliamentary governments,” said Bani Rsheid. – AP, AFP