Should Badran be given a second chance?

Ever since the formation of the government of Adnan Badran, it has gone from one crisis to the next. From the start, there was the fiasco involving the issue of representation of various geographical and social sectors in the government. Then there were the two gas price rises. Recently, his reluctance to embrace the recommendations of the National Agenda Committee has put even more stress on the government, and it looks like this issue will lead to the choosing of a new PM.

Much of the trouble facing Badran is his lack of experience as a politician. He agreed to become PM without fully understanding the consequence of not having a working program from the start, as he wanted to defer to the NAC, and use their recommendations as guidelines for his government. This inexperience also led to the unfortunate choice of ministers, and later the unfortunate caving to the MP's on the issue of representation. Finally, the issue of fuel prices caused by the constraints imposed on him by international oil prices and the numbers given to him in the budget he inherited from the previous government. In the final analysis, the vultures are hovering. Should they have to wait?

I would argue that Badran is not as bad as his luck and inexperience would suggest. The fact that there are problems between him and Abdulhadi Majjali, the speaker of the parliament, is expected. There is a long history between the men, going back to the time when Badran was the head of Yarmouk University and Majjali was the head of public security. In 1986, students at Yarmouk University staged demonstrations, which ultimately led to heavy handed security intervention, killing at least three students, and wounding hundreds. Badran was forced to resign after that. At the time, Badran's brother, Mudar, was the PM and Majjali's brother, Abdulsalam, was the head of the University of Jordan. Abdulsalam later moved on to become PM. Complicating things, Abdulhadi has ambitions of his own at becoming prime minister. The fact that Majjali doesn't like Badran shouldn't be taken against him. Moreover, the fact that the IAF is against him (having joined the government of Mudar in the old days) is a point for and not against Dr. Badran.

The major reason why Badran is in trouble, according to the yakking political class in west Amman, is that he is reluctant to accept the NAC recommendations. This is quite disingenuous, since most of these ex officials are against the NAC as well. In any case, any reasonable person should give him/her self a chance to study the massive 2500 page document before adopting it. I think that Badran wanting to give himself and the government a chance to study this monster is fair. Granted, much of the document will be uncontroversial rehash of existing legislation and policies. But what is the problem with reading it before passing judgment and adopting it?

Badran is fundamentally a decent man with old fashioned tendencies. His government is showing active concern for environmental issues, including closing down factories that pollute their surroundings, and pulling licenses of vehicles with unacceptable levels of emissions. It is easy to imagine how he can make enemies for shutting down polluting factories. It also seems that he is planning on paying up the debts of the universities and increase their budget (was it the power of the blog?). Plans are under way to improve services in low income areas. Even his comical interest in the price of sugar before Ramadan shows a streak of compassion that should be noted. The general picture, as I see it, is that while the government is still very pro business, it also is interested enough in environmental and social issues to put its money where its mouth is. This is a departure from previous governments, I believe. I would also note that one reason that Bassem Awadallah was forced to resign was to remove what has been perceived, fairly or unfairly, as the driving force for unrestrained capitalism. So his removal actually seems to have worked in this regard.

The greatest weakness of Dr. Badran lies in an apparent over eagerness to please. The MP's intimidated him into modifying his government before they even started (a first in Jordanian politics). Later, the journalists syndicate was able to pressure him into disavowing the NAC recommendations regarding compulsory membership. The impression of weakness diminishes a leader's ability to push what he believes.

The indications seem to be that Dr. Badran is a socially and environmentally conscious liberal man. This in itself made him a number of enemies. If he has the stomach to fight the good fight, I think that he should be given the chance to work positively with the NA, especially with regards to reforming the tax system and liberalizing the laws governing the press and political parties. In order to succeed, he needs to rethink the composition of his cabinet. If he is not willing to fight hard for what he believes, I believe that he should step aside.