By Madeleine Mezagopian

Being a resident of Jordan prevents a person to feel ever bored as new developments keep on surfacing regularly whether instigated locally or externally and the last few days were not an exception.

Recently, a new government was conceived in Jordan headed by Dr. Fayez Tarawneh, a veteran politician by practice and an economist by education, a true insider and well informed of the intricacies of Jordan's socioeconomic and political challenges, who was mainly perceived as ultra-conservative albeit received different assessment of what he can deliver. Watching Tarawneh as Prime Minister quite relaxed and unpretentious somehow similar to the way he interacted with my questions back in 2005. I cannot but recall being impressed with his dedicating ample time to receive me and enjoy a genuine discussion entailing statements indicating foremost a realistic and carefully liberal personality, but above all impeccably loyal to past and present Jordan. Then, I encountered a politically matured person who acknowledged the existence of certain paths, degree of maneuvering by politicians in Jordan beside a King who is a good listener amid a non-totalitarian regime, and who believed in negotiating out of powerful position and when the time was ripe. I listened to a person who viewed Jordan not as a prototype, rather a different model with an open society since 1940s where people are exposed and enjoy freedom of expression to some extent with a civilized leadership. I met a person who totally rejected the existence of a cleavage between indigenous (my own term) Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian origin underlining Jordan's heterogeneous society however in conformity. He saw in UN Security Council Resolution 242 the only salvation of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. What struck me most was Tarawneh sincerely recalling his meeting with Sweden's former Minister late Sten Andersson, specifically Andersson's accentuating the need to "whatever you do, look at the humanitarian side."

Tarawneh's thirty-member government includes the Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, another veteran politician, who was hosted by BBC World News Hard Talk this week, when the audience had another chance to enjoy the eloquent rhetoric on Jordan's mainly domestic scene through its first diplomat. Aside his customary elegant and polite approach, Judeh's words were quite assertive, though his somehow uneasy body language slightly undermined his words, an expected outcome given the unprofessional hard looks rather than the hard talk of the interviewer who interviewed Judeh with preconceptions of some of Jordan's politicians and adopted policies. What distinguished most the talk was Judeh's fair advocacy of the Monarch's adopted policies of reform. However, it was unfair not to relate the soft impact of the Arab Spring on Jordan to Jordanians' own relatively peaceful and non-violent comportment and to limit the will to initiate and implement reforms merely to top-down efforts.

BBC hosting Judeh coincided BBC Arabic reporting on human rights abuses in centers providing care for children with mental challenges in Jordan through a program when watched carefully reveals loopholes, selective approach and techniques with different institutions and its personnel, foremost the incomplete reporting of the wider scope of quality of provided services which undermine the credibility of the program. What's most intriguing is the Jordanian reporter opting to expose the case on foreign satellite instead of bringing up the issue through a Jordanian forum at a time when such attempts are encouraged and welcomed especially by the Monarch himself. Yes, there are appalling abuses which undermine all ethics and principles, however one wonders if a phenomenon is emerging of people abandoning ethics, principles and self-respect and seeking desperately fame at any expense and with complete no sense of loyalty to one's country and to its people, at a time when some satellite channels are engaged in campaigns to defame Jordan through sensational, unprofessional and foremost theatrical programs.

The sensation surrounding Jordan got further intensified with claims of unusual insulting remarks made by the head of Nuclear Energy Committee Dr Khaled Touqan targeting those opposing his convictions and policies, however representing an event which promotes rather than damages the image of Jordanians. Resisting nuclear power by the Jordanian people is the climax of civilization reflecting awareness and vigilance of the repercussions of such energy over environment and the well-being of human beings. Such awareness combined with enthusiasm for alternative environment and human friendly sources of energy is indeed a source of pride and translation of elevated human behavior.

This said, the question arises whether a Prime Minister who so well remembers the need to heed attention to humanitarian aspects will succeed in promoting the humanitarian needs of all, especially of the most vulnerable segments of Jordan's society: the disabled, the poor, the elderly and the sick with due attention to the surrounding environment? Will the Prime Minister succeed to this end with the help of his ministers, not least through his Foreign Minister while considering if it is in Jordan's and Jordanians' interest to seek further foreign assistance instead of concerting and dedicating all efforts towards promoting and enhancing much needed economic growth and having Foreign Policy success measured foremost by the ability of Foreign Ministry team to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) rather than assistance which can be easily abused and encourage Culture of Dependence?


Madeleine Mezagopian
Academic Researcher and Advisor
Conflict Resolution/Peace and
Socioeconomic and Political Development