2021 has
rocked the world of Jordanians in more ways than one, but contrary to widespread
defeatist outlooks, it did close with a silver lining. The very last week of the
departing year saw a tipping point for national discourse – in a subtle, but
powerful, sign that things are changing for Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
As the
country marches toward a new era of political reform, Jordan’s opinion writers are
actively schooling our populist members of Parliament on the merits of decorum
and civil dialogue through their published columns. Peculiarly enough, our MPs
responded with visible attempts to clean up their act, even if ever so slightly.
In essence,
local opinion writers have somehow metamorphosed into the allegorical “mentors”
of the nation’s representatives (in light of the fact that Parliament is far
from being a true representation of Jordanian society in all its diversity and
intellectual prowess).
This new
dynamic between the movers and shakers of public opinion and our Parliament was
seldom, if ever, seen before. It signals a new era of political maturity for
Jordan, with the steady departure of demagogy from our local media, in favor of
sober, more mature, writing that is reshaping our national consciousness and
overall political discourse.
Whereas balanced
writing has for years been the staple of English-speaking media in Jordan (which
reaches a limited niche audience), we are seeing more and more of this positive
streak in Arabic-speaking media, especially in the top three mass-circulation
newspapers, Al Ghad News, Al Rai, and Ad Dustour.
For the time
being, demagogy and mayhem continue to be the main characteristics of local online
news websites that depend on sensationalism to lure in clickbait from the
general public (but that is no reason to despair).
The catalyst
for this curious transformation came about following the fistfights and unruly behavior
that broke out last Tuesday (the last week of 2021) in Parliament between some
male MPs who acted like “thugs fighting in a back alley",
as columnist and editor-in-chief of Al-Ghad News, Makram Ahmad Al-Tarawneh, eloquently
put it.
To add to
the embarrassment of Jordanians, many regional Arab and international media
channels aired our dirty laundry, prompting local social media users and opinion
writers to reach a noteworthy national consensus about our legislators’ sad
state of affairs. From mocking the MPs’ theatrics to lamenting their obvious
lack of self-control, many Jordanians have arrived at one basic idea: “Parliament
does not represent the ethos of Jordanian society, and it most certainly should
be ashamed of itself.”
Local
cartoonists joined the national uproar in this rare collective condemnation of
the Lower House’s lack of professionalism and its insistent desecration of the
sanctity of the dome (as a national institution), by reiterating that
Parliament is meant for ratifying nationwide laws that are in the best interests
of Jordanians, it is by no means a “boxing ring” for primitive acts of
intolerance that happen in the absence of dialogue.
The idea
that lawmakers need to lead by example as “law-abiding citizens” came across in
several opinion pieces, with many agreeing that “rational dialogue and debate” were
the unequivocal principles to guide the future conduct of Jordan’s immature
Parliament.
On Sunday,
Al Ghad News published a scathing column by Dr. Mohammed Hussein Al-Momani,
titled “War on populism in 2022”, where he criticized the spread of grandstanding
on the Jordanian political scene.
His article
opened with the following striking words (as translated from Arabic): “At a
time when populists have had relative success in reinforcing the voice of
skepticism, while spreading pessimism and negativity and an atmosphere of
general frustration with a sense of uncertainty… we – who oppose them – have
succeeded in making populism a blemish, an indictment, and a flaw requiring
correction.”
Momani went
on to say: “This is an achievement despite its modesty,” especially in the face
of countering those who “have tried to market populism as the origin of
politics and a legitimate behavior to achieve their ends in a way that
justifies the means, even if it harms the country.”
His column
closed with the proposition: “… the best we can do in 2022 is to launch a
relentless war against populism and populists… (in a bid) to put a stop to the
voices of falsification, distortion and destructive irrationality, which
marginalize society and seek to weaken its ability to build and progress.”
That same
day, and to the surprise of many, Lower House Speaker Abdul Karim Al-Doghmi and
a number of other MPs who took part in the brawl came out to convey their
“apology to the Jordanian people” for the recent events.
To affirm
Parliament’s commitment to the rule of law, Doghmi said he referred the issue
to the Legal Committee, signaling a positive development.
Parliamentarians
were guided by public opinion before. Just a couple of weeks earlier, in mid-December,
scores of MPs upset the quorum needed to discuss the “energy-for-water”
declaration of intent by melodramatically storming out of Parliament. They
ended up reassembling a few days later, though, following a scorching opinion
piece by Al Ghad’s Tarawneh, where he urged them to take their responsibility
toward Jordanians seriously and to steer away from dramatic populist behavior.
This new
dynamic is a healthy sign that we are moving in the right direction, despite
all the challenges facing us as a nation that still needs to learn the art of
respectful debate.
We do have
good qualities to bank on for positive change, though. Jordanians have always been
able to persevere to survive regional turbulence with tenacity and unshakable
resilience. We can now switch from survival mode to a prosperity mindset by
persevering to evolve, together, for a better Jordan.
Ruba Saqr has reported on the environment, worked in the public sector as a communications officer, and served as managing editor of a business magazine, spokesperson for a humanitarian INGO, and as head of a PR agency.
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