Democracy In Jordan

April 18, 2007
1 min read

With inflation what it is these days, not to mention taxes, maybe this is the only benefit of election time in Jordan this year. By the way, be sure to read Oula Farawati‘s article in Jordan Business on the tax hell we’re living in.

Not mentioned above: Turkish delights (or ra7a)

23 Comments

  • I don’t know if the guy with they yellow shirt and the crack is sending a hidden message by hajjaj, I think it is a way to say that people in jordan wear things that they don’t know what it means, which is also a generlization that we are somehow stupid..
    This is funny….KKK hahahaha

    Reply

  • Again this is for whom it may concern,Iam copying and Pasting because this website is not allowed in all Arab government serveres. يستعد المواطنون الاردنيون هذه الايام للانخراط في عملية الانتخابات البلدية والتي من خلالها سيتم اختيار رئيس واعضاء المجالس البلدية لكل محافظة واقليم في كافة انحاء المملكة وعليه فأنه يستلزم من المواطنين الاردنيين الهرولة تجاه صناديق الاقتراع والعمل الجاد لأجل انجاح تلك العملية الديمقراطية الجوعية التي ستسهم في دعم العمل المؤسسي المجتمعي ديمقراطيا وخدميا وستفعل الديمقراطية وممارستها وهذه ما اوصت به الحكومة الاردنية وحفزته وروجت لهليس هناك أية اعتراضات على قضية انتخاب رئيس البلدية في المدينة ولكن الخلاف على الآليات التي تجري بها الانتخابات والصلاحيات الممنوحة لرئيس واعضاء والمجلس البلدي والاهم من ذاك كله هل تتوفر وقائع مادية من شأنها ان تجسد العمل الجماعي الانتخابي او القرارات التي يصدرها المجلس البلدي وهل تتوفر موازنات كافية في تلك البلديات الخربة والمتراكمة الديون لتقديم الخدمة للمواطن والمدينة ام ان الامور مجرد استعراضات وبهرجات يقصد بها الانصراف عن الواقع السياسي والاقتصادي الثقافي الاجتماعي المتردي الذي تتخبط فيه البلاد في بلدية معان على سبيل المثال واذا ما استعرضنا امكانيات االبلدية وهي من اقدم البلديات في الاردن حيث تاسست عام 1898 Ù… نجد ان تلك البلدية غارقة في الديون والازمات وهي لا تستطيع ان تقف على رجليها نظرا للموازنة الخفيفة التي تتلقاها من حكومة الاردن وبالكاد تحاول جاهدة ان تحصل شيئا من الضرائب المترتبة على المواطنين بدون ان تقدم لهم اية خدمة بيئية اوخدمية اومجتمعية وتلك الضرائب لا تكاد تغطي اجور العاملين في البلدية باثمان بخسة وكل اربعة شهور وبالقطارة كما يقولون لا يمكن ابدا تحقق تلك البلديات بوضعها الحالي اية نتائج ايجابية على ارض الواقع بدون توفر اساسات مادية وسلط تنفيذية وتشريعات واقعية تراعي متطلبات المواطنين وبيئتهم فاذا فقد الشرط المادي وبقيت الحال على ما هي عليه كيف اذن يمكن ان يقوم هذا المجلس المنتخب بواجباته وما هوموقفه امام بلدية غارقة في الديون والالتزامات ان تلك الاشكالية بحق صعبة جدا الاشكالية الاخرى هي طبيعة السلطة الممنوحة للرئيس والاعضاء واشكالياتها فالرئيس كان يتم تعيينه من قبل الدولة في السابق تفرزه الدولة بحيث يمثل سياساتها وبرامجها وترسم له الخطوط بتفاصيلها ودقائقها وتمنحه الامتيازات والمنافع المادية والشخصية مقابل تنفيذه لاملاءاتها التي تكون عادة في صالح فئات متنفذة وليست في صالح الشعبايضا تقوم الدولة باضافة اعضاء تنفيذيين وهم مدراء الدوائر في كل محافظة لتضمهم الى اعضاء المجلس البلدي وبذلك تضمن الدولة عدم خروج قرار باغلبية قد يكون في غير صالحها ومصالحها يبدو بان الدولة تصر على ان تكون الانتخابات والتشكيلات عشائرية بحتة يرافقها اثارة للنعرات العشائرية والعصبيات الضيقة النتنة وبذلك تضمن افراز رموز عشائرية لا تمت الى الاصلاح والتنمية بادنى صلة بل تصبح تعبيرا عن السلطة القبلية المستبدة التي تنصهر فيها جميع القيم العصبوية الضيقة وبذلك تفشل عملية الاصلاح والتطوير والتنمية بهذه الطريقة فما بالكم اذا انضمت تلك الاشكاليات الى ديون متراكمة وازمات دفع الاجور للعمال والفساد المالي والاداري الذي تطفح به بلديات المملكة اضافة الى النظام الاداري التقني المتخلف والمترهل في آن واحد ان تلك التشكيلة بعيدة الارتباط عن احداث اية تنمية وتطوير واصلاح في المدن تدخل السلطات في قضية الانتخابات البلدية قضية مفروغ منها فهي تحرك ادواتها العشائرية المرتبطة بها والتي تغدق عليها من الاعطيات والمنح والامتيازات لكي تنفذ اوامرها وسياساتها وتخضع لمعطياتها بدون النظر الى الصالح العام وصالح المواطن وذاك التدخل السافر لا زال ينحى منحى كلاسيكيا يعود بنا الى عصر الاستعمار الانجليزي حينما كان ابو حنيك (كلوب باشا) يحرك غالبية الزعامات الاردنية ويمارس ترويضها لتنفذ املاءات وسياسات الاستعمار البريطاني في الاردن ونعود الى تلك الجماهير المضللة المخدوعة بتلك القضايا الثانوية التي تستهلك جهودها وطاقاتها في الثغاء والنطاح وتشحن فيها روح القطيع الهائم على حاله منقادين الى صناديق الاقتراع بدون أي وعي او بصيرة وتلك الجماهير التي تعاني الامرين وتجهد في الحصول على لقمة العيش وتلهث خلفها وتكدح ليلها ونهارها في مزرعة الحيوانات من اجل الابقاء على مقوماتها الحياتية الانسانية التي تبقيها في حالتها الآدمية في تلك المزرعة الكبيرة غير ان ارباب تلك القطعان هم من يقطفون الثمار ويستولون على انتاج وثروات اولئك المقهورين تارة بسياطهم وتارة باضاليلهم وبرامجهم الخداعية وديمقراطيتهم الجوعيةولننظر ونتابع مسلسل ارتفاع الاسعار هذه الايام الذي يحرق دخول الفئات الكادحة من طبقة عاملة وفئات متوسطة كادحة لتنتفخ البرجوازية التجارية والزراعية والمالية والعقارية ولتتضخم على حساب الجسد الشعبي الهزيل الذي هو اغلى ما يحلبون ويستغلون ويملكون هذا الارتفاع الجنوني الذي اعجز الفقير ان يبتاع اساسيات حياته من الطعام الرديء والحاجيات البسيطة التي لن تقيم اوده وتلك الفتيات اللاتي يواجهن نفس المصير فيتجهن الى البغاء في اوكاره ومراكزه المنتشرة في المدن الاردنية الكبرىان دفع المواطنين الى تلك العملية الانتخابية التي لا تسمن ولا تغني من جوع هو خطوة جديدة لابعادهم عن التفكير في واقعهم الاجتماعي والاقتصادي والسياسي المر والمجهول المستقبل وسبق ان قلنا ان لا وجود لاساسات ومعطيات مادية على ارض الواقع يمكن ان تخدم المواطنين بل سرعان ما يتهاوى اعضاءالمجلس البلدي في هوة الفساد المالي والاداري الذي يجدون سهولة كبيرة في التعاطي معه والتردي في حمأته فالتشريعات القانونية والادارية البيروقراطية المتخلفة كرست لخدمة فئات صغيرة وليس لصالح الشعب عموماان تلك الانتخابات لن تقدم أو تؤخر ما دامت لا تتساوق مع وقائع مادية متحققة على ارض الواقع وتشريعات متساوقة مع صالح الشعب ونظام انتخابي عصري ومتطور من شأنه ان يعبر عن طموحات الشعب وارادته وما دامت القوانين التي تحكم البلديات تكرس للفساد المالي والاداري وتعمل على تسهيله وتشجيعه وما دامت السلطات تتدخل في كل صغيرة وكبيرة لتضمن اخصاء تلك العملية الديمقراطية الجوعية

    Reply

  • Exactly mohanned people don’t know what they hell they’re wearing, i saw girls wearing a T-shirt with “lover-69” on it 😀

    Hajjaj has a wide collection of people with the crack of their butts showing up, this is hilarious

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  • Nas,
    With all do respect for your blog and as a loyal reader I suggest that you make sure that your blog doesn’t become and advertising agency for some peoples agendas, you can suggest on them to have their own blogs..You know who I am talking about, and I was a “victim” for some of this stalking…
    Thats only an advice and it is up to you..But I don’t feel comfortable when some one always attack the royal family even if we are talking about KFC!!

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  • Mohanned: thank you for your concern. i do have a commenting policy that i like people to adhere to. when it comes to the arab times i think at this point it has become so lacking in any journalistic credibility that only a fool would take their work with any dose of seriousness.

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  • Some people now are acting like the Mokhabarat,giving suggestion on how people write and react to the injustices in Jordan,
    And yes why don’t you say it Mahanned,that Alurdunialhurr is and will be against this outdated and expired date government.
    Listen Mahanned ,each and every one of us has agendas,don’t you,isn’t your Blog translate your agendas??
    Or one can have an agenda as long as he/she praise the status quo,
    Nas,,I can assure you if I was praising the regime in Jordan ,Mohanned will be praising me all day long and maybe Mohanned will be dancing too ,he only wants to see people who have Arab marines agendas and mentality or the so called neoliberals who thinks that Arabs and Muslims should be ruled by guns and sticks,like his “friend” and favorite bigot and racist Thomas Freedom.

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  • Since we are discussing Democracy in Jordan ,I thought this scholarly written article is worth revealing
    WASHINGTON — “The long, sordid history of the Hashemite Regime’s secret collaboration with Israel and the CIA, going way back to the beginning, is known to regional scholars and intelligence agencies; but not to the general public. There’s even an Oxford University history book ‘Collusion Across the Jordan’ that lays out many of the excruciating details that lead to Israel’s creation thanks to considerable secret help from the Hashemites, then ruled by the current King, Abdullah II’s, namesake. King Abdullah was himself assasssinated by enraged Palestinians a few years after Israel’s creation when he visited the Jordanian-controlled part of Jerusalem

    The current Hashemite King is more compromised and more in-the-pocket than even his father and grandfather. Educated at Georgetown in Washington; born of a British mother (which required ‘Constittional’ changes so he could reign); speaking much better English than Arabic; and essentially put on his throne by a masterful CIA coup in the final days of his father’s life; Abdullah II is now protected by US Special Forces said to be prepared to wisk him and family into cushy exile.”

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  • Agenda is defined as a set of steps done to get to a specific goal, your goal is to overthrow the regime, and by the way I am not mokhabarat and I am not advocating for anyone..My blog is to express my thoughts and say what goes in mind, it is not created to force opinions or create followers, you can call it mohanned’s diary, but you sir!!I don’t know what to say, I can’t believe that someonle like you still believes osama fawzi, they had some credibilty when they started but now it is just a bunch of haters that spread lies!!
    “Nas,,I can assure you if I was praising the regime in Jordan ,Mohanned will be praising me all day long and maybe Mohanned will be dancing too ”
    first of all I don’t know how to dance, and second of all did I say anything praising the regime?and third of all look at the people in the street that praise the king for breathing…My loyalty is to jordan, not to human beings, humans die but countries live forever, just keep that in mind.
    I just don’t like the way you debate, you attack the other part of the debate, you copy and paste(We got google and we know how to serach), you add nothing you just explain what you wrote and forget that we know how to read!!You use other people blogs to spread your agenda!!From my previous debates with you I noticed that you hate education, you said that the poor lead revolutions, you praise the french revolution, you want jordanian to go into the streets and kill the king!!Dude you are wierd!!As I told you before, the poor don’t care about democracy they want to feed their children they want to send them to schools, they don’t care about what you say or what I say, it is the role of the educated to help the poor, it is the role of the educated to change the “status quo”, my advice to you is that stop this attacking technique, people won’t listen to you like that, you need to be more logical and civilized.
    GOOD day sir!!

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  • alurdunialhurr: these are opinion article that are baseless when it comes to facts. simply saying something is “well known” doesn’t make it true.

    in any case, while i appreciate most of your comments despite my disagreements with some of your arguments, i would appreciate it if you kindly adhere to my commenting policy. i dont like slander and it’s not condoned on this blog.

    thanks

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  • Nas ,,what slander are you talking about?what I posted is the truth,and you guys are afraid of the truth ,
    And IAM going to copy and past,just to prove to you what I have posted are documents that the Nation Magazine had obtained from the Aqaba Regional Authority and when a respected magazine like the Nation writes about any subject it checks it’s source 10 times before they publish their story or article because of legal liability and their excellent reputation.
    Ya alalah 3alek ya genius ya Mohanned,off course I go to people Blogs,when you write in your blog ,you want people to read what you have to offer,is it not the comment section in any blog, for people to introduce their point view even if it differ from yours?.
    OK ,,Mohanned,you come to Nas Blog right? why you come to his Blog? Is it not? you visit people’s blog to read what they write and at the same time,you offer your feed back???,
    And since your are talking Agendas,yes Mohanned,I have an agenda just like you do,but my Agenda is write about the suffering of the poor and the oppressed which you don’t give a dame about, yes Mohanned each one of us has an agenda even king abdullah has one, and every time I criticize the rigem and it’s corruption you get very upset and that’s fine with me,
    Mohanned you cant monopolise truth and I can’t either,but also there is lots of sole searching that we have to do in order to bring about the truth and facts.
    And Mohanned,,don’t ever accuse me of advocating the killing of the king you are one who is spreading lies and rummers about me and your nothing but a lair and rummer spreader,, just show me one comment I wrote that advocate the killing of the king??
    Yes ,I will say on this Blog and every Blog,I advocate the change of any government that does not serve it’s masses by peaceful mean including the government in Jordan just want to be clear on That next time you address me don’t you ever miss quote me …

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  • “Nation Magazine” show me how credible it is by numbers?Is it widespread, or it is credible just because you say so.
    “OK ,,Mohanned,you come to Nas Blog right?”
    Because I am interested in what he says, and some how I feel close to his opinions, I don’t come here to spread anything, He posts something, If it interests me I comment if not I don’t, It is simple!! My blog has no agenda, Again I just say what gos in my mind overthere..
    “I criticize the rigem and it’s corruption you get very upset and that’s fine with me,”
    Dude, Go check out my blog before you say anything, at least my name is out there, I don’t have nick names, I am not afraid to say what I want..And by the way you left jordan and “struggled” here in the US, did you go back and help the poor?Did you do anything to help force the change?No!! So I think you don’t have the right to talk about jordan when you are not ready to sacrifice for your country..
    The last word:
    As I said before, change your technique, and stop reading the arabtimes, I just read it to laugh, it is everything but a newspaper..and anyone who has 1 gram of brain can tell that it is just lies and stupidity!!
    Kollo wala za3alak ya urduni, bndallana e7’wan…

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  • “Dude you are weird!!As I told you before, the poor don’t care about democracy they want to feed their children they want to send them to schools, they don’t care about what you say or what I say, it is the role of the educated to help the poor, it is the role of the educated to change the “status quo”, my advice to you is that stop this attacking technique, people won’t listen to you like that, you need to be more logical and civilized.”Mohanned.

    Ok Mohanned I want to dissect you comment word by word,,you described me as weird.
    If being called weird to defend the right of the oppressed then I am proud to be called weird.
    Poor people,according to you don’t care about democracy because they want to feed their children and send their children to schools,Well,let me answer you with my question,does socioeconomic condition ie, exploitation ,heavy taxes, mismanagement ,corruption and lack of accountability contribute to their misery and misfortune?
    according to you again ,only the “educated” people which mean in this case only the rich and educated can have a role in changing the miserable status que,so if a person is poor and unducated,then he/she has no right or room to have a say about their life.I tell you you have no concept and understanding of what is really going on because you have been raised arrogantly and have no clue what poor people all about and with a silver spoon in your mouth.

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  • “only the “educated” people which mean in this case only the rich and educated can have a role in changing the miserable status que”

    Where did you get the information that the educated are only the rich?!That just shows how weird you are..

    “Well,let me answer you with my question,does socioeconomic condition ie, exploitation ,heavy taxes, mismanagement ,corruption and lack of accountability contribute to their misery and misfortune?”

    100% agree, but the poor will care more about food than freedom of speech, and that is why the government keep hitting them with more taxes-to get busy feeding their children.

    “you have no concept and understanding of what is really going on because you have been raised arrogantly and have no clue what poor people all about and with a silver spoon in your mouth. ”

    Thank you, so I was raised arrogantly, my father did a bad job?I can assure you he did a great job, and about the silver spoon,, my family went through what you will never imagine, regarding the silver spoon we don’t have ones, we have satinless steel ones and we used to live in hay el 6afayleh next to jabal el taj…

    As I said to you before and as I will repeat it now, at least reveal your identity to show us some courage, do something to help the poor in jordan, send some money to poor families, and most importantly EDUCATE you self..End of conversation, and please have some respect when you talk about how people were raised so that I can have some respect for who raised you..

    Sorry nas for using your space..

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  • alurdunialhurr and mohanned: please take it easy

    alurdunialhurr: of the three, only one was from the nation, so the other two kind of demonstrated what kind of credibility you might have. one was from arab times, which is pure tabloid and the other was from what any antizionist pro-palestinian would consider a zionist paper. but it’s ironic how even an anti-zionist would be willing to accept anything they write as falsehood unless it has to do with the regime. not so much ironic as it is sad.

    so spare me please the “wake up” calls and the “afraid to accept the truth”. when a person comes back to his country to try and fix the problems that are in it then its not a sign of rejecting truth as opposed to throwing stones behind a glass house in a far away land. so again, let’s put that talk aside because i could really do without the bullshit right now.

    i’m not going to alter or edit anything but i will kindly ask you to adhere to the commenting policy once again and we should all be fine.

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  • what has been written about the Hashemite is absolutely truth and for some reason or another you both want to deny it,
    The Arab Times has more integrity than your rag Alrai news propaganda paper.
    Yes I live in the US and I have all the right to criticize this corrupt family that you are proud of.Do you really Iam that stupid to post my real; name on my Blog.are you kidding me,you put your name on your Blog Mohanned because you support that corrupt family and you have nothing to worry about,and most likely you have a job waiting for you in this corrupt government,so don’t think you can convince anybody by your silly Blog which you always blame all the problem of the middle East on Arabs and Muslims ,just like your favorite racist bigot Thomas Friedman.

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  • “and most likely you have a job waiting for you in this corrupt government,”
    Allah yesma3 mennak ya rajol:)
    “silly Blog ”
    What an awsome blog you have.
    “Iam that stupid to post my real”
    That is a first step.
    “just like your favorite racist bigot Thomas Friedman. ”
    Well he is not my favourite, but at least he knows how to do research and present proofs, not like Dr.Osama who have never published any kind of research and names his articles as credible ones. In research there are things called fallacies(google it-I have no time to educate you)and for a research to be credible it has to meet specific criteria before it gets accepted, other than that it is just oponions and assumptions that can’t be proved.

    “so don’t think you can convince anybody by your silly Blog which you always blame all the problem of the middle East on Arabs and Muslims”
    Dude, focus, you can’t solve all the problems of the world, choose one thing and focus on it, maybe I had some opinions that you didn’t agree with but it is MY OPINION..And by the way I admit that at some point of my life I understood my surroundings wrongly, but I learned and I will continue to learn each day..
    Education is your salvation man, the prophet PBUH said it, the first verse in quran said it so LEARN..

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  • This is absolutely my last warning to the both of you: please adhere to the policy of this blog or don’t comment at all. if you refuse to adhere to it then I’ll make sure you won’t be able to comment on it at all.

    thanks

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  • Nas with all do respect, can you point where I didn’t adhere to the policy of the blog?And to be honest with you I find it difficult for me to leave the debate being the one disrespected on your blog!!
    Thanks

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  • Mohanned…i addressed it to both of you because both are involved in this conflict here. and with all due respect, if you feel someone is disrespectful to you and you reciprocate that with a similar show of disrespect then you’ve conceded what high ground you had.

    thanks for understanding.

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  • Nas,you sounded like my Arabic teacher in my High school years,I don’t get offended by anybody and I told you I have developed vey thick skin over the years
    Mohanned is the easiest person I debated so far,he seems very young and inexperienced and has been ignorantly educated or educated ignorantly for long time and some times i say screw it, why should I bother with somebody that think he is right and the rest of us are wrong, especially,when I present evidence and my opponent only throw at me rants ,rambling and false accusations.

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Your Two Piasters: