A Future Jordan - نحن الأردن

Jordan: Shuffling Forwards BY OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP

Jordan: Shuffling Forwards
OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP
4 July 2005

After several weeks of waiting and speculation, Jordan's new cabinet was finally unveiled on July 3, with eight new ministers appointed. Once again, the fresh line-up is aimed at winning support for economic and political reform, but this time in the face of an increasingly disgruntled parliament. Public opinion, however, appears divided on the new team's chances of delivering.

The reshuffle followed the resignation of the unpopular finance minister, Bassem Awadallah, on June 15. Prime Minister Adnan Badran had also been under attack in parliament, where, according to AFP, a group of some 53 MPs in the 110-seat assembly had mobilised for a no-confidence vote if the government's economic team were not revamped. Awadallah, who had been close to both King Abdullah II and the US, was thus forced out - a move greeted positively by many ordinary Jordanians, given the rises in oil prices his proposed policy of slashing oil subsidies would have produced - (As if Dr. BAsem wanted to raise the oil prices for no reasons. As if the previous govts haven't been SCREWING all Jordanians by Levying these subsidies and now all of us will pay for it, PAY ALOT.) Faced with unpopular decisions such as plans to raise oil products by 5-12%, the Badran government had to get rid of controversial ministers in order to win public sympathy, a Jordanian official told AFP on July 4.

This was necessary in order to contain the public moaning expected when oil prices will rise. The decision to slash subsidies was given by the prime minister at the end of June, when he told a meeting of private-sector executives in Amman that these would have to go as part of plans to privatise the energy sector by 2008. The figure widely quoted is that $600m of subsidies will be cut over a three-year period. The announcement was also not helped by earlier statements from the government that water bills too would see a hike by the end of the year. Handling such a move requires major political and social consensus, particularly given violent popular responses to similar moves back in 1989 and 1996. A hike in prices of oil and other goods in 2004 did not produce such a backlash, with most analysts seeing the difference as being that in 2004 the move was conducted with parliament onside.

As a result, Badran's new cabinet has been put together with the development of a similar consensus in mind. Two key players in this will be Adel Kodah, the former head of the Privatisation Commission, who takes over Awadallah's post at the Finance Ministry, and Marwan Moasher, a former diplomat, who becomes deputy prime minister and official government spokesman in charge of explaining the reforms to the nation.

Elsewhere, the minister of parliamentary affairs, previously Hisham Tal, is now former Amman governor Abdul Karim Malahmeh. Tal retains his previous second portfolio as deputy prime minister for political development. At the Justice Ministry, the former minister of state for legal affairs, Abed Shakhanbeh, takes over, replacing Mohammed Alawneh. Rowaida Maaitah, a former minister of social development, takes over as minister of government performance, replacing Salah Bashir. Amin Mahmoud becomes minister of culture, while Munther Shara, previously minister of political development, now takes the water and irrigation portfolio, replacing Raed abu Saud - (Amazing Choice, A Political Science professor to head the Min of Water.)

Mohammad Odeh Njadat, a former minister of state in Abdul Karim Kabariti's government until 1997, returns to the same post. Finally, the former minister of labour and public works, Muzahim Muhaisin, takes over as minister of agriculture, replacing Yousef Shreiqi.

Therefore, the new faces are, with the exception of Malahmeh, not so new. All have served in at least one previous government, which while reassuring in terms of creating an experienced team, does also beg a few questions.

I believe that the deputies will calm down now, local analyst Jamil Nimri told the Jordan Times, but I don't think that the reshuffle was based on the qualifications of those brought in or on the belief that they could carry out the task ahead. Many see the new appointments as cautious, with the team selected specifically on the basis that they would not upset anyone. They do, however, partly redress a regional disparity that had existed, being largely drawn from the southern and northern regions.

Yet the tactic of non-offence does not seem to have worked entirely, as the resignation of Lower House Deputy Khalil Atiyyeh just before the new government was announced illustrated. One of those deputies who had been a key member of the no-confidence group, Atiyyeh was very popular in his constituency, which is mainly Palestinian refugees in Amman, whom, he said, were being marginalised despite representing a wide section of the Jordanian population.

Other deputies also criticised the new cabinet, with MP Mamdouh Abbadi telling reporters that the prime minister had made his appointments without consulting parliamentarians and that the cabinet lacks the cohesion or makeup of a reformist body. Another worry is the cabinet's stability, as it was only back in April that the last reshuffle took place. The pressing need for continuity in the application of public policy must be respected, editorialised the Jordan Times on July 4. The country cannot afford a transient government in view of the heavy workload ahead. Most would agree with that - and hope that Prime Minister Badran's team will be up to the challenge.

posted by Ashraf Zeitoon @ 3:44 AM