Jordan shuts down civil society

Jordan's democratic retreat continued yesterday, as Minister of the Interior Samir Habashneh announced a ban on political activities within the Professional Associations, particularly activities related to the 1994 peace treaty with Israel and the boycott of American products.   

The Professional Associations in Jordan have for decades represented pretty much the only effective institutional base of independent political activity in the kingdom.  The government has periodically attempted to strip them of their political role over the years, but has never really succeeded. 

This new campaign represents a serious escalation in the anti-democratic policies of King Abdullah's government, which has already taken a major toll on the press and civil society.  In testimony to the toll it's taken on the Jordanian press, Arab newspapers and media, from al Hayat to al Jazeera reported Habashneh's remarks prominently, but it was hard to find much of anything in the Jordanian dailies - here's a short piece in the "local news" section of the Jordan Times.   

Freedom just keeps on marching.

Oh, on the more general "Arab reform" beat... al Jazeera reports today that Hosni Mubarak has graciously agreed to remain in power if that is what Egyptians want.  It's that spirit of self-sacrifice for the public good which has made the Arab world what it is today. 

Comments

[Stacey]

On the Hosni front, Issander at the Arabist had a great recap of Mubarak's claim (last week) that being Egyptian President-Evidently-for-Life has made him "a detainee" of the State.

http://arabist.net/archives/2005/01/09/poor-hosni/

Could Ionesco do better?

[the aardvark]

Stacy - thanks! I don't know how I missed that from Issandr. Priceless... right up there with Gamal becoming the "candidate of change."

[Jonathan Edelstein]

I've got to admit that I have mixed emotions about this. Yes, the Jordanian professional syndicates, like the Egyptian ones, are focuses of independent political activity, and have been the targets of similar governmental harassment. On the other hand, they often enforce their own orthodoxy and stifle dissent within the ranks, as when they expel members for having contact with Israelis or otherwise deviating from the party line. Their battles with the government have often struck me as a case of dueling tyrannies.

[Manumission]

Come on, Aardvark, you're ruining the script. This is simply one minor episode in the "developing democracy" that is Jordan. I think the NYT, as a matter of fact, is just about due for one of its regular pieces explaining this to us, again.