Pro-reform protesters single out security services

November 6th, 2011
By Taylor Luck
Source: Jordan Times

AMMAN - As weekly pro-reform protests entered their 11th month on Friday, activists across the country hit the streets to reject what they claimed as security services’ “hold” on public life.

In a demonstration at Al Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman held under the slogan “no reform under the grip of security agencies”, dozens of youths and leftist activists called for an end to “interference” by intelligence agencies in political life.

Fakher Daas, head of the Wihda Party youth branch and protest organiser, said the demonstration aimed to send the message that although the head of the government may have changed, obstacles facing reform efforts remain.

“Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh is just one person, we are here to change the whole system - and that starts with rolling back the influence of security services in all aspects of life,” he said.

“Until security services exit from all aspects of public life, reform in Jordan will be impossible,” Daas added.

Activists insisted that ongoing weekly demands for reform are an indictment of the way the political system operates, not a referendum of a specific government’s performance.

“We never had anything against Marouf Bakhit or Samir Rifai personally, and we are not against Awn Khasawneh,” said Amjad Qasawneh, a member of the Popular Youth Movement Coalition for Change.

“What we are rejecting is the political system itself - it is broken and until we fix it, we cannot tackle corruption or ensure public freedoms,” the Al al Bayt University student added.

Amjad Ouran, a member of the Hay Al Tafaileh Freedom Movement, said activists are driven by frustration over a stalled economy, limited transparency and a lack of progress in tackling corruption.

“Who really profited from the privatisation process? Where are all the public funds going? Why haven’t any senior officials been brought to justice?” he remarked.

“The same questions we had 11 months ago still haven’t been answered, so we are going to keep pressure on decision makers.”

A few metres away from Al Husseini Mosque, some two-dozen so-called government loyalists staged a counter-demonstration, rejecting calls for elected governments and labelling pro-reform activists as “Iranian agents”.

Ibrahim Taher said he was driven by a “patriotic duty” to brave rainy weather and raise banners denouncing the reformists’ demands.

“I have no money, I have nothing to eat - the only people who will look after me is the Hashemite leadership and I will die before anyone threatens them,” he said.

Both the sit-in and the counter-demonstration, which lasted less than a half-hour, ended without incident.

Not all in downtown Amman were impressed with Friday’s civic activism, pro-reform or otherwise.

Saleh Zawahreh, a sweets vendor located across from Al Husseini Mosque, said traders have grown wary of weekly demonstrations which they claim have driven away customers in droves.

“When people think of downtown Amman, now all they think of is two words: marches and protests.”

Traders questioned the wisdom of activists’ selection of the Friday ahead of Eid Al Adha, one of the major shopping days of the year, to make their voices heard.

“Why this Friday? This is the one day that the whole of downtown comes to life,” Zawahreh remarked.

Ibrahim, a garment vendor stationed next to Al Husseini Mosque, which has served as the launching point for weekly demos, claimed sales have plummeted over the past several months, adding that this holiday season’s revenues pale in comparisons to past Eid Al Adhas.

“I can’t afford to make a sacrifice this year and they are stopping traffic to demand economic reform,” the 24-year-old said.

Meanwhile in Karak, three separate pro-reform marches were held across the governorate while tens of activists hit the streets in Jerash and Tafileh, demanding the dismissal of the Lower House and Senate and the formation of elected governments.

Friday’s protests, the second since the selection of Khasawneh as prime minister last month, were marked by a lack of slogans calling for the government’s ouster.

Jordan’s pro-reform movement dates back to a small-scale January protest in the town of Theeban, south of Madaba, calling for economic reforms and the resignation of the Samir Rifai government.

Eleven months and two governments later, the protest movement has branched out across the Kingdom along with the rise of so-called popular movements, adopting various causes ranging from municipal services to an end to privatisation.

With participants often numbering in the hundreds, the demonstrations have been largely peaceful; the vast majority of the some 700-odd protests and marches that have taken place in the Kingdom this year have ended without incident.