Fact international jordan Offline#
Fact international jordan free#

This is a result of years of extreme gerrymandering and electoral law manipulation, perfected to ensure an amicable parliament whose main role is to dole out patronage to loyal constituents and to engage in only limited law-making. Jordanian parliamentary elections rarely provide much excitement or enthusiasm. In 2020, remote and early voting were not allowed, driving participation even lower due to the dangers of in-person voting during a pandemic. The three most recent parliamentary elections, in 2013, 2016, and 2020, saw a progressive decrease in turnout, all with the same state-controlled results that preserve the status quo. The exploding national debt, dangerous GDP-to-debt ratio, and spiking levels of unemployment, coupled with an unchecked increase in cost of living, affect all Jordanians. Calls for change are less constrained by old divisions and more unified in their frustration with the countryвЂ™s sharp economic decline, unchecked levels of corruption, and increasingly draconian rule. The traditional divisions of urban versus rural and West Bank versus East Bank that long plagued Jordanian political movements have given way to newer generations with diverse opinions and voices. Over the past decade, however, we have also seen the resilience of the Jordanian people. Instead, the majority of the Jordanian citizenry-the have-nots-have paid a heavy price for their nationвЂ™s strategic importance: an uncertain future and the inability to provide even the most basic essentials for their own families. As a result, and to the detriment of the Jordanian people, the ruling elite have felt protected and insulated from any real pressure for meaningful reform. Since its founding, Jordan has always played an important regional role, absorbing refugee waves from neighboring Palestinian Territories, Iraq, and more recently Syria and forging early and strategic partnerships with Israel and the United States.

This is the sad reality that is, and has been for some time, under gag order in Jordan.

Fact international jordan free#

In recent years, protestors and activists have faced harsh crackdowns and prison sentences for exercising free speech and for the crime of naming the governmentвЂ™s own failures. The original demands of 20-a curb on rampant corruption, the creation of jobs, an end to regressive taxes and subsidy cuts, and more representative government-have continued to echo through the streets with no real reform initiated in response. Protests have continued steadily over the past decade, taking place even last month amidst the deadly pandemic. Mass demonstrations in 20 called for an end to corruption and for reforms to improve economic and political freedom. But while many details of recent events remain opaque, the root causes are clear: the governmentвЂ™s refusal to address longstanding popular demands for reform. The subsequent disappearance of Prince Hamzah from the public eye and the gag order on media coverage of his audio and video recordings have only fueled more confusion and rumors. I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worseвЂ¦ And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutionsвЂ¦ It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed, and threatened.

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This threat, an audio of which has since been released, had prompted Prince HamzahвЂ™s leaked video statement, as the government worked to take him offline and silence him: It did not make much sense until the Prince released a video message in response, stating in very clear terms that he had received a surprise visit to his home by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces telling him to stop participating in meetings with fellow Jordanians in which criticisms of the government or King were voiced.

Many of us were shocked on Saturday to hear the news of arrests linked to an alleged coup in Jordan and Prince Hamzah bin HusseinвЂ™s rumored house arrest.

This past weekвЂ™s events have been a game-changer for Jordan, which suddenly finds itself the center of international attention, though the closely controlled government messaging has provided very few answers. Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Jordanian government has rarely been in the spotlight.