Cleaning up the mess

Last week, the king gave an unprecedented interview, in which he clearly articulated his views on the issues that are concerning Jordanians these days. I must say that the frankness in the king’s latest interview was a breath of fresh air. After the public discourse was taken over by fear mongering and slander, this interview should set the stage for an honest and open discussion on the issues that we face. Thanks for Nasim for taking the trouble to translate it.

The five most important points (to me) were:

1- We should do our best to attract investments now, because the oil boom in the Gulf will not last forever.

2- It is legitimate debate to question how the money from selling land will be spent, but selling land in itself does not mean that it will leave Jordanian sovereignty.

3- The government owns 80% of land in Jordan (I didn’t know that).

4- The Royal Court has no jurisdiction over the government according to the constitution, and the king is insisting that this is how things are and how they will be.

5- The king is aware of the gossip and rumors, and admonished people to look for facts rather than sensational lies.

Now, the interview was needed simply because the country has been immersed in all kind of rumor and innuendo for the last five months. I agree with the king’s point that this style of interviews should not become a routine thing. However, not doing it would have led to a growing credibility gap between the state and the people. And I thing I should elaborate on this.

First, it is not the king’s job to explain the government’s thinking. It is the government’s job. Because they failed to do this, the credibility gap grew. Actually, it was the PM who started the land sales rumors, and when he lost control he resorted to trying to bury people in bullshit rather than the honest, straightforward approach that the king took.

Second, the fictional “returning of constitutional authority of the government” has only come to public discourse since Dahabi took office. I always thought that this is a ridiculous issue, given that the government has much more power than it really should in Jordan. Of course, this term is a code reference to Bassem Awadallah taking over the government’s mandate, and has taken on unfortunate sectarian overtones. Of course, the Royal Court does not have constitutional mandate over the government. If Dahabi feels that he has to lick Awadallah’s shoe, that’s his problem, not Awadallah’s. Dahabi should stop the cry baby routine acted out through his proxies.

Third, the Jarash festival issue was totally mismanaged by the government from start to finish. Again, this has been through the actions that it took and poor communication with the public.

The interview was necessitated by poor performance of the government and the bickering between the PM and the head of the Royal Court, pure and simple. I would respectably submit that it is not the people’s fault that there are rumors, as it is the people in power who are starting them and using them to further their agendas. This is where the blame should be placed.