tear gas is about the Jordanian capital, with its seven hills. The voices of around 2000 protesters are heard from afar, but it takes until the crowd of people is visible. The police has taken care of: tanks and water cannon, a traffic jam on the roads, around. Pedestrians are reluctant to pass through. The demonstrations of the last weeks were peaceful, but this week it came for the first Time, to clashes between police and protesters. On both sides were wounded.
Raad al-Majali has been spinning for half an hour in a circle, all access routes to the fourth roundabout, where the head of government Omar al-Razzaz has its headquarters, are locked. The 26-year-old electrical engineer is self-employed, to him it is going relatively well, but the conditions in the country were also for the middle class intolerable, the hopelessness of the youth draw from Amman to Algiers.
“I raise my voice, because I was a young man, still dreams.” He wanted to be able to afford that, get married – instead, he sees others pass you by. The Only, really, be a small Elite, corruption and nepotism on the agenda.
Many of the refugees from Syria
unlike last June, when trade unions to protests against the proposed tax law and the price of calling increases, are organized by the protesters this time. However, their demands remained the same: the end of the widespread corruption, an immediate stop of the tax and price increases of food, gasoline, electricity.
After the protests in the summer, king Abdullah dismissed. II. the head of the government, Hani al-Mulki and put the tax reform on ice. But now they should occur with minimal Changes in power.
The government in Jordan is implementing with the austerity policies of the International monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF had approved Jordan in 2016, a line of credit in the amount equivalent to 619,6 million euros over three years. Now the government wants to raise the income tax to 5 percent and the corporate tax increase from 20 to 40 percent. However, the cost of living in Jordan are high, the wages are low. Unemployment in some parts of the country at 40 to 50 percent.
In the West applies in the Jordan as an anchor of Stability. However, the crises in neighbouring countries have added to the country: economic growth is only 2 percent, and the population is growing every year by 3 percent. Jordan has taken in more than 650000 Syrian refugees – around half of the population has Palestinian roots. There is hardly a country supported by the West financially as Jordan. The stability of the country is in the sense of Europe, which is currently in foreclosure, instead of the inclusion of additional refugees.
king Abdullah II device domestically, is increasingly under pressure. Shortly before the start of the Demonstration he had announced an Amnesty for citizens who have committed out of economic necessity violations. However, on the street that appeased hardly anyone. Some are calling for the overthrow of the heads of government of Omar al-Razzaz. So far, Jordan’s king Abdullah II in the political questions had the last word; he is the head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the army.
For nearly 100 years, the dynasty of the Hashemites prevails in Jordan; their ancestry back to a relative of the prophet Mohammed. A legitimacy that recognizes a large part of the population. But now the protesters are calling for democratic participation – the majority, expressed cautious reforms instead of Revolution, rethink, instead of roll-over.
This is also due to the role of the king: For centuries, there are powerful tribes in the country that have hundreds of families. The surname is enough to hear, whether one belongs to the tribe in the South, the North or in Central Jordan.
The tribes support the role of the king as arbitrator, he holds, due to its origin from the Saudi Arabian Hijaz. One of the powerful families would have the Say, would endanger the Balance in the country. However, this also means that the Royal house is dependent on their favor. In many of the state authorities, nepotism is the key to employment.
(editing Tamedia)
Created: 14.12.2018, 19:00 Uhr
