Attempts by Jordan’s government to quell mounting unrest by backtracking on planned fuel price rises appear to have failed with widespread street protests lasting until the early hours of Saturday morning.
As protesters warned that nightly demonstrations would continue, political analysts said the issue had become larger than the fuel price hikes and a draft income tax law, and was now centered on general disillusionment with the government’s economic policies.
Late-night protests were described as “an explosion waiting to happen” and “the beginning of Jordan’s Arab spring II” by political observers.
A meeting on Friday night between the speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Atef Tarawneh, Prime Minister Hani Mulqi, and members of the professional unions failed to produce a breakthrough on the tax issue.
Musa Maaytah, Jordan’s minister of political and parliamentary affairs, told Arab News that more than 80 members of Parliament had signed a petition saying they would vote against the income tax law.
“This is only one of many ideas that we will discuss, but the exact date of an extraordinary session of the Parliament is the king’s prerogative.”
In a press conference after the meeting, Mulqi said: “We are going to continue talking until we reach agreements. We understand each other better.
“We spoke to unions about the economic situation in Jordan and told them we have completed 70 percent of the economic plan agreed to with the International Monetary Fund and that to complete it Jordan has to approve a modern tax law that protects the lower and middle class.”
Ali Abbous, head of the Jordanian Professional Unions Association, said that no agreement had been reached on the income tax law.
Jawad Dweidar, a member of the Hirak Shabibi (youth movement), told Arab News that nightly protests will continue until there is a shift in government direction.
“What we want is a clear change in policy, not a change of persons here and there,” Dweidar said.
