Since National Agenda Committee Chairman Marwan Muasher's sudden announcement on the eve of its release that the Agenda (the road map for reform for the next decade in Jordan) would not be published until November 4 (after the Eid), the Agenda seems to have disappeared into the void. In the weeks leading up to its scheduled release, there was a highly vocal pre-emptive campaign against the Agenda - conservatives resisting change, liberals complaining it wouldn't go far enough, journalists complaining about the controversy surrounding compulsory association membership, economists complaining about fuzzy math, ethnic nationalists complaining that it would hand the Kingdom over to Palestinians and smooth the way for Jordan to reoccupy the West Bank. Knives were out everywhere, and there weren't many voices other than Muasher standing up to defend it (even prominent members of the Agenda Committee were keeping their heads down). I have thoughts as to why that is, but you'll have to wait for those until my article comes out in a couple of weeks!
At any rate, rather than intense discussions of the Agenda - which would be a useful national dialogue about reform to have, I'd think - instead rumours are flying about big political changes right after Ramadan: dumping Prime Minister Badran, or at least reshuffling his government; or dissolving Parliament and calling new elections (even in the absence of the long-awaited new electoral law). No idea if there's anything to those rumours, but just wanted to note that they are in fact circulating widely.
In that context, there's also a slow-simmering struggle over how to respond to the Volcker Report on Oil for Food. Jordan does not come off well in the Report - lots of Jordanian companies, individuals, and banks show up as key middlemen throughout. Thing is, few Jordanians are ashamed of this: they viewed the sanctions as a moral and political horror, and many took pride in anything which subverted or weakened the sanctions. The Jordanian government, on the other hand, doesn't have that luxury, given its overwhelming foreign policy priority of maintaining good relations with the United States. Lots of countries are beginning to take measures against companies and individuals named in the report, but that would be political dynamite in Jordan. So how to respond? Unclear, in the extreme...
UPDATE: Khalaf offers a defense of Badran's government, and some background on his personal conflict with Abd al-Hadi al-Majali. And Rami's Wall on Jordan as a great vacation spot for torturers. Good Jordanain politics blogging!
From my small observations; the National Agenda is nowhere in the common circles of average Jordanians and their daily discussions of politics... the top concern these days is Syria, and what the coming days or weeks or months will bring to this region!!
the rumor mill may be at it again with talk about reshuffling the government... but it hasn't gotten people's full attention or interest - yet, I guess!!
Posted by: Lina | November 02, 2005 at 06:02 AM