Bloopers

The last few days have brought a couple of humorous (if not sad) situations. Here I would like to share.

The first story involves the new press law. Abdelraouf Rawabdeh, who had spearheaded the campaign to tighten restrictions on the press, was quite pleased that the press had accepted the crumbs that the senate had thrown to them. In the parliament session where the senate modifications were ratified by the lower house, he said that “the press had welcomed and blessed the decision by the senate scratching the section imposing jail sentences in opinion cases. So the parliament should not be more compassionate on journalists than they are on themselves”. He claimed that the earlier house version banned jailing except for the four provisions that were in article 38. In any case, it is clear that the press could have gotten better conditions if they had pushed their case farther.

The second story involves the Jordan Medical Association elections. In the run-up to these elections, the leftist block running on the “green slate” tried to allow for Iraqi members of the association to get to vote. The Islamists “white slate” vehemently opposed this, on the grounds that the Iraqis are not exactly full members. The ministry of health sided with the leftists. Finally, the whole issue was settled when a legal opinion was requested from the legislation bureau in the prime ministry. They decided that no non-Jordanians should be allowed to vote. This actually turned out to be a blow to the Islamists, who drew support for West Bank Palestinian members of the JMA. Oops.

Be careful what you wish for!