Jordan's Islamist opposition rejects political dialogue, says government not serious

By Jamal Halaby, The Associated Press – Mar 10, 2011

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition threatened Thursday to boycott a political reform dialogue called by King Abdullah II, with one of its leaders saying the government is not serious about change.

The development could deprive the Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest opposition party, of any voice in the reforms. The party also boycotted last November's parliamentary elections.

Like much of the Middle East, Jordan has seen opposition protests calling for political change in the past two months. The demonstrations have not threatened the monarchy but are calling for the king to relinquish some powers.

In response, U.S.-allied King Abdullah urged political parties this week to participate in an "active" national dialogue to widen freedoms and public participation in the decision making. The king said the parties should propose specific plans for election reforms.

But Zaki Bani Ersheid, head of the Islamic Front's political office, said Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit is intentionally "undermining" the opposition's main proposal to elect the prime minister, who is now appointed by the king.

"We're not willing to engage in a dialogue for the sake of dialogue," Bani Ersheid told The Associated Press. "We will not participate in this farce."

Bani Ersheid called on the king to head the dialogue because al-Bakhit "is not credible and not serious about reforms, given his past record."

He said the Islamic Front will hold rallies in public spaces across Jordan on Friday, replacing the street protests, to press its demand for changes.

Recently, al-Bakhit named a state committee he said will work with the country's political forces to change a controversial election law that critics say favor the king's conservative Bedouin loyalists.

Al-Bakhit also asked Jordan's fragmented 34 political parties to join into two or three groupings to allow for improved competition in parliamentary elections. He said the majority leader can form a Cabinet.

He has said amending laws will take until the end of the year.

However, the Islamic Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, and other critics say the changes must be immediate.

Bani Ersheid said the king must be stripped of his power of dismissing Cabinets and the parliament, the only elected body in Jordan's government.

He also called Thursday for a quick dissolution of the parliament and the Cabinet and for parliamentary polls to be held under a new election law. He said the majority leader can then form a Cabinet.

He said a strong parliament will ensure a proper check and balance of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of power.

Military and other courts functioning under the remnants of an emergency law revoked in 1993 must also be immediately abolished, he added.

The Islamic Front accuses al-Bakhit of rigging parliamentary elections during his previous post as prime minister in 2005-2007. The group also sees the ex-army general as incapable of introducing democratic changes.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

UJ's president opens Australian Universities Forum exhibition

2011-03-10

AMMAN – President of the University of Jordan (UJ) Adel Tweisi on Thursday opened the Australian Universities Forum Exhibition.

The exhibition aims at acquainting Jordanian students, willing to study in Australia, with the Australian educational system, admission requirements and costs of studying and living in Australia.

The exhibition also designed to provide students with information about students' immigration laws.

Australia is the third largest English-speaking country to attract students after the United States of America and the United Kingdom. (Petra)

Source: Ammon News.
Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=11671.

Jordanian journalists urged to free themselves of 'self-censorship'

By Hani Hazaimeh

AMMAN - Regional political developments pose a challenge to the local media, especially the mainstream, which have found themselves in a situation to push the envelope and report issues that have been taboo for decades.

Analysts and even the incumbent government blame the narrow margin of press freedom on “self-censorship” ensuing from several facts, including long years of martial law and state ownership of major media outlets.

According to a report by the Center for Defending the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) issued last year, over 95 per cent of journalists and editors acknowledged that they practiced self-censorship in their reporting. This was mainly attributed to being under constant fear of being questioned and summoned by the security agencies or sometimes for their conviction that their writings would be edited.

Despite the government’s openness to criticism in recent weeks, censorship is still practiced against journalists and columnists, said MP Jamil Nimri (Irbid, 2nd District), head of the Lower House National Guidance Committee. "Some of my articles were banned from publication before and even after I became a deputy," he added.

Even without receiving any directions from authorities, journalists have treaded very cautiously over sensitive issues such as religion, tribalism or even politics, said Nimri, who writes for Al Ghad daily.

"Reporters would also check with their chief editors regarding what can be published and what cannot and they write within this margin of press freedom. However, in many cases editors and chief editors take decisions on their own when deciding to publish or not to publish," Nimri said, adding that the fear of authorities' overseeing the editorial policies is ingrained in the minds of journalists.

However, the MP underlined authorities' dominance on the media sector either through the ownership of these mediums or using a “stick and carrot” policy, including government ads, as a pressuring tool.

With few exceptions, authorities' censorship is present in almost every mainstream media outlet, according to Nimri.

Al Arab Al Yawm Editor-in-Chief Fahd Kheitan agreed.

“The editorial policies in several media institutions are subject to the whim of governments for different considerations driven by government ownership of the medium’s shares or in many cases chief editors would compromise to keep their jobs,” Kheitan told The Jordan Times.

Kheitan urged “self-liberation from all fears” as key to addressing media self-censorship.

“The drastic changes must spur reform in the local media sector,” the left-leaning journalist said.

He said signs are already there. “Two months ago, it was almost impossible to speak about certain issues in public. Nowadays people are fearless as we see in the slogans they raise during the protests. Journalists must follow suit and be up to the responsibility of the profession,” he said.

CDFJ President Nidal Mansour put a historical touch on his analysis.

“Self-censorship is the product of long years of violations practiced against the freedom of the press since 1989. Journalists used to be summoned by security agencies, or threatened with legal action on charges related to what they write,” he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Mansour also blamed the lack of protection media institutions offer their reporters in case they “fall into trouble” as another factor that entrenched self-censorship, also citing the conservative background of top editors that led to the same output of the reporting process.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Taher Odwan, a former chief editor of the independent Al Arab Al Yawm, acknowledged that former governments interfered in the work of the press.

“Now things have changed and we are working on lifting all restrictions on the media,” he said.

“This is the challenge of journalists now. They should free themselves from fear. The freedom of the press cannot be granted. It is taken.”

Commenting on state ownership of main newspapers, through the large stakes controlled by the Social Security Corporation (SSC), he said: “We want to reach a stage when the SSC is free to take its decisions independently from any party” regarding its policies in the media companies where it controls the majority of boards.

Prohibitions in the Press and Publications Law

According to Article 38 of the Press and Publications Law for the year 1998, media outlets are prohibited from publishing materials that include:

1- Insult or abuse of religions whose practice is guaranteed by the Constitution.
2- Abuse of prophets in the form of writing, drawing, pictures, symbols or any other
means.
3- Insult to religious feelings and creeds, or incitement of religious or racist sedition.
4- Trespassing on the dignity and personal freedoms of individuals, including through publishing false information about them.

10 March 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=35316.

Jordan up to 81st in FIFA ranking

By Aline Bannayan

AMMAN - Jordan jumped three spots to move to 81st in the latest FIFA /Coca-Cola World Ranking which was issued on Wednesday.

Last month, the squad had a big leap of 23 spots to go up to the best rank since 2007 after an impressive performance that saw them reach the quarters of the 14th Asian Cup.

In the latest rankings, Jordan is now 7th among Arab and 8th among Asian teams. They are now looking ahead to the World Cup qualifiers later this summer.

The latest ranking saw world and European champs Spain leading followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, England, Uruguay, Croatia, Portugal and Greece.

Among Asian Football Confederation teams, Japan who were crowned Asian champs for the fourth time hold the top spot at 15th, while Australia is 21st and South Korea 29th. They are followed by Iran (43), China (76), Uzbekistan (77), Saudi Arabia (79) and Jordan.

Top Arab teams are led by Egypt (35), Tunisia (45), Algeria (55), Morocco (66), Libya (71), Saudi Arabia (79) and Jordan.

The national team squad is scheduled to regroup on March 22 and will travel to Sharjah, the UAE for a friendly alongside Iraq, El Salvador, and Kuwait in the first phase of preparations for World Cup qualifiers.

Jordan national Team Manager Osama Talal, quoted in Al Ghad daily, said all was on track for the four-team tourney and that the technical manager Adnan Hamad was following up league matches for potential changes to the line-up.

‘’The squad will be finalized soon for upcoming duty,’’ he added.

Jordan is on a high note after the last Asian Cup, which they reached for only the second time since 1972. In 2004, they also made it to the quarters and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August the same year.

Meanwhile, Al Ghad reported that the Jordan Football Association (JFA) has requested to host the U-19 Asian qualifiers alongside 10 other bidding countries. The draw will be held on March 30 in Kuala Lumpur and Jordan is seeded 14th after making it to the finals last time. The JFA has decided against the participation of the U-16 team although the squad was seeded 8th among 45 countries after making it to the finals for the first time last year.

The senior team is seeded 13th among 44 Asian teams in the World Cup qualifiers.

10 March 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=35287.

Jordan Islamists say no talks before demands

Mar 9, 2011

AMMAN — Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition said on Wednesday they will not engage in any dialogue with the government unless it promises to examine first their demands for constitutional reforms.

The Islamists issued their condition as King Abdullah II called on all political parties to join a national dialogue initiative in an "active" way.

"We will not participate in an initiative that carries no real dialogue," Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of the political office of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) told AFP.

"We demand constitutional reforms and not just amendments to the electoral law," which have been promised by Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit, he said.

The government has recently formed a commission headed by Senate President Taher Masri to initiate a national dialogue on political reforms.

"The government does not have what it takes to implement constitutional reforms. Only the king can manage a national dialogue," Bani Rsheid said.

"We want to know who are the members of the commission and they should come up with recommendations in a month or six weeks, not more."

Bani Rsheid insisted that the Islamists "will not participate in the dialogue unless our conditions are met," saying that "there is a real opportunity for reforms now."

Inspired by the popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, Jordanians have been protesting since January to demand political and economic reforms.

"Political parties should come up with programs that would meet people's aspirations," the state-run Petra news agency quoted the king as telling leaders of some political parties at a meeting.

"Political development requires developed political parties, which have a key role to play in a comprehensive reform process."

He said "it is important that all political parties take part in a national dialogue in an active way."

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Jordan inks 1.8-billion-dollar oil shale deal with British firm

Wed, 09 Mar 2011

Amman - The Jordanian government on Wednesday signed a 1.8 billion-dollar concession agreement with the Karak International Oil (KIO), a subsidiary of Britain's Jordan Energy and Mining Ltd, for the production of crude from Jordanian oil shale deposits.

A signatory to the agreement is also Polysuis AG, a subsidiary of Thyssenkrupp Group of Germany, which will prepare the designs, and install and maintain the equipment for the project.

The accord was signed by Jordanian Minister of Energy Khalid Touqan, the chairman of Jordan's Natural Resources Authority, Maher Hijazin, KIO's deputy chairman Chris Morgan, and Norbert Patzelt for Thyssenkrupp.

The agreement envisages the production of 15,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) over a period of five to seven years, to be increased to 60,000 bpd in phased expansions.

Additional by-products will include sulfur and electrical power, some of which are to be fed into the country's national grid.

The non-conventional oil venture will be based on surface mining of oil shale followed by the application of modern Canadian technology provided by the Thyssenkrupp Group utilizing thermal cracking and retorting methods.

The Jordanian government is expected to receive about 10 billion dollars of revenues over 30 years.

Official estimates put the country's oil shale reserves at about 40 billion tons.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/370954,shale-deal-british-firm.html.

Dissolve parliament: Jordan protesters

Wed Mar 9, 2011

Jordanian anti-government protesters have gathered in front of the parliament building in the capital Amman calling for the dissolution of the parliament.

On Tuesday, the demonstrators called for political reforms, a constitutional monarchy, and the release of political prisoners, and accused MPs of hindering reforms.

"This parliament is not fit to approve any legal or constitutional amendments," AFP quoted Islamic Action Front (IAF) chief Hamzah Mansur as saying in a letter to Senate President Taher Masri, who heads a recently formed commission to initiate a national dialogue on political reforms.

"It is obvious that deputies are uptight about reform demands. It is very important now to dissolve parliament and call for early elections. Otherwise, the talk about reforms will be useless," Mansur added.

Mansur criticized Senate President Masri's commission "because such a body should not be headed by senators, who are appointed by the king."

"The need to have a modern electoral law to produce MPs, who truly represent the people, (and) enjoys a national consensus," Mansur said.

The IAF, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, boycotted parliamentary elections in November 2010 in a protest over constituency boundaries set up under the current electoral law.

Calls by the IAF and other groups to dissolve the parliament have increased, particularly after Amman MP Mohammad Kuz described pro-reform protesters as "corrupt villains."

"We will not allow such corrupt villains to lead demonstrations. They have called for regime reforms, and they might demand regime change. If the government cannot stop them, we will do it ourselves,” Kuz said in the parliament on Thursday.

Inspired by the popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, Jordanians have been protesting for weeks, demanding political and economic reforms.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168931.html.