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AMMAN:
Thousands of Jordanians held peaceful demonstrations in
Amman and other cities on Friday to press for reform and the
government’s resignation, taking their cue from Tunisia and
Egypt.
“Egypt, the Arab nation salutes you. We urge your men to get
rid of (President Hosni) Mubarak,” an estimated 3,000 people
chanted as they marched through central Amman holding
national flags after Muslim weekly prayers.
“The Arab people’s message: you are corrupt, beware our
anger. (Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali
is waiting for you,” they said, referring to his ouster in a
popular uprising.
Police said around 2,000 people staged protests in other
cities, answering a call by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood
which demands political and economic reforms in the kingdom.
Irbid, Karak, Maan and Diban were also the scenes of
peaceful protests at which no clashes were reported. Like
during a demonstration on the previous Friday, police in the
capital distributed water and juice.
“Together let’s make political and economic change,” banners
read. “Down with the (prime minister) Samir Rifai
government. We want a national salvation government.”
Muslim Brotherhood leader Hammam Said demanded an elected
government. “Jordanians should elect their government. Why
should they be deprived from electing a government that
would feel with and represent them ... a government that
would make us feel safe?” he told the crowd.
The Islamists have called for constitutional amendments to
curb the king’s power in naming government heads, arguing
that the premiership should go to the leader of the majority
in parliament.
The Jordanian constitution, adopted in 1952, gives the king
the exclusive prerogative to appoint and dismiss the prime
minister. King Abdullah II held meetings earlier this week
with senior officials, MPs, senators and others as part of
efforts to “come closer to the demands of the people,”
urging them to speed up political and socio-economic
reforms.
“It’s time for change. People can no longer accept
corruption. We do not want a government of aristocrats,
merchants and the rich,” Said told the demonstrators.
The government
has announced it was pumping around $500 million into the
economy in a bid to help living conditions, but protests
have been staged in Amman and other cities over the past two
weeks against high prices.
“We are protesting today to demand genuine reforms that
would boost the people’s participation in deciding their
future,” said Abdelhadi Falahat, head of the trade unions’
council.
The Islamists and Jordan’s 14 trade unions, which group more
than 200,000 members, say the government’s new measures are
inadequate as poverty levels are running at 25 per cent in
the desert kingdom. The cost of living in Amman is the
highest in the Arab world, according to several independent
studies.
Official unemployment is running at about 14 per cent in the
country of six million people, 70 per cent of them under the
age of 30. Other estimates put the jobless figure at 30 per
cent.
Tunisia’s popular revolt, which ousted the country’s veteran
strongman Ben Ali, has inspired dissidents across the Arab
world and sparked protests.
In Egypt, riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to
disperse tens of thousands of protesters who flooded out of
Friday prayers demanding an end to decades of corruption and
oppression and the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. |
