Jordan's Tribal Leaders Flex Their Muscles

by Abdullah Omar
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Rioting presents a challenge to campaign of King Abdallah II to impose rule of law

AMMAN, Jordan - Calm has returned to As-Salt, a city of 100,000 some 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the capital Amman, after three days of rioting that erupted in the wake of a police shooting of an unarmed civilian. But the local tribes believed to be behind the unrest still have a beef with King Abdallah II.

The aftermath of clash is evident in the city’s downtown, where thousands of gendarmerie were deployed to contain angry crowds that smashed shop fronts and torched automated teller machines during 48 hours of rampaging. When his iron-fist policy failed, the king dispatched Interior Minister Nayef Al-Qadhi to the town to seek a truce with the tribes.

But the underlying causes of the rioting will be a tougher problem to solve. Western diplomats say the modernizing Abdullah is determined to impose the rule of the law on the influential tribes, but tribal chiefs are equally determined to preserve their traditional power and privileges, putting the two on a potential collision course.

“In King Hussein’s time, the tribes could get away with anything,” a Western diplomat told the Media Line, referring to Abdullah’s father, who ruled Jordan for close to half a century until he died in 1999. “But, King Abdallah II is adamant to put everybody under the rule of law. His policy isn’t being received well by tribes used to certain leverages.”

Jordan’s king and tribe drama could have far-reaching implications. The country is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. But with a war-torn Iraq to his east and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to his west, Abdallah faces a host of challenges to stable rule. Jordan’s tribes are the bulwark of his Hashemite monarchy and counterbalance the influence of Jordan’s big Palestinian population.

Last week’s rioting in As-Salt was set off by relatives of a man assaulted by a local police officer. The incident began when an officer reportedly put chase to a vehicle he deemed suspicious because it had no license plate and its windows were broken. As he pursued the car, he was confronted by relatives of the driver.

Eyewitnesses say the policeman pulled his gun and shot at close range a man they termed a bystander. Angry and vengeful, relatives of the victim and others attacked a police station, torched a police booth and bank, and hurled stones at gendarmerie forces. The police responded by storming shops and beating civilians inside them.

“Our relative was shot in the head from a close range, and the police told us immediately that they didn’t do it,” said Ali Khreisat, a member of the tribe that clashed with police. “They confessed later. But we needed to take the law in our hands because we do not have trust in police or the government.”

The melee in As-Salt is hardly an isolated incident in a country. According to official figures, nearly 200 cases of social violence – the official term for vigilantism -- were reported in the north, central and southern parts of the kingdom last year. One common factor among most incidents is that they happened in tribe-dominated areas.

The late King Hussein was in most respects a modernizer, but he relied on tribes to cement his grip on power amid fear about the rising influence of the country’s Palestinians. Abdallah II has continued his father’s legacy, but the Western-educated Abdullah has also sought to impose the law equally on all the population and use the police and other government mechanisms to enforce it.

“In Jordan, the tribe is a fundamental part of social and political identity. We cannot ignore this, but modernity requires the state to implement the law, without discrimination or favoritism,” Fuad Dabour, security-general of the Arab Communist Party, told The Media Line.

The unrest exploded just a few days ahead of the scheduled opening of a newly elected parliament, which needs to address not only the growing vigilantism, but to spur economic growth and cut Jordan's record $2 billion budget deficit. Abdallah has his work cut out, but thanks to voting rules that favor the kingdom’s rural, tribal allies, parliament is dominated by tribal leaders.

Of the 120 newly elected lawmakers, only 17 are Jordanians of Palestinian origin, even though they make up nearly 65 % of the population. Many observers say the elections system has enhanced tribal power at the expense of rule of law and government.

Experts have warned that the tribes may use their power to oppose the king, especially as economic pressures grow and trust in government decline. The attack on security forces in As-Salt suggests that police have become the public face of bad public policies and decisions, said Professor Musa Shtewy, a sociologist and member of a government committee to study social violence. Nearly 70% of the population is under age of 30, but the young lack work opportunities while a conservative mentality limits business and social advancement.

“Youth is living in a state of frustration. Political alienation and apathy are prevalent,” Shtewy told The Media Line. “We also have high unemployment, poverty and lack of future prospects.”

Dabour, the communist, blamed the government, which he says discourages the young from joining political parties that would raise them above narrow tribal allegiances.

“The authorities are reaping the fruits of what they planted,” he said.

Copyright © 2010 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Source: The Media Line.
Link: http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=30626.