Citizens seek lawmakers’ influence to obtain, expedite services

AMMAN – In the corridors of the Lower House on Sunday, dozens of people were waiting, seeking the wasta (influence) of MPs to help them obtain jobs or services.

Some had been waiting for hours to meet their representatives in the House to present them their demands, or hand over petitions to lawmakers’ aides when the deputies are not available.  

Madaba resident Mohammad Maayah came to Abdali –– where the headquarters of Parliament is located –– looking for support from a lawmaker to speed up electricity connection to his farm outside the city of Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman.

He told The Jordan Times he had been waiting for nearly an hour, adding he would hang around till he met the lawmaker to present his demand personally.

"MPs can help speed up measures to obtain services from government departments," he said, responding to a question on whether it would be difficult to connect his farm with power without the help of deputies. 

Safwan Matlak, from Irbid, was also at the House seeking help but left before seeing the MP. 

The deputy “is not coming to the office until late”, Matlak said, adding, however, that he spoke to the MP on the phone and was told to leave a petition with the employee managing the office. 

The retired civil servant wanted to secure a job for his daughter who obtained a degree from a community college. 

Matlak noted the MP promised him to do his best. 

A woman and her daughter were walking in the corridor searching for the office of a female deputy.

“Her Excellency will be late today, but what can I do for you?” a House employee told the women. 

“It’s OK. We will wait,” the woman, in her 50s, replied, declining to say what she was after. 

According to Omar Fandi, the office director of an MP, dozens of people come to see the lawmaker on a daily basis with a variety of demands that include jobs, opening roads and exemptions from medical treatment costs, among others.   

Director of the Phoenix Centre for Economic and Informatics Studies Ahmad Awad said that requesting wasta from MPs has become a phenomenon, practised by both average people and officials. 

The Elections Law has brought under the Dome lawmakers who spend nearly 80 per cent of their time responding to voters’ demands for jobs and services rather than in legislative work and oversight.

“The majority of people believe there is no fair distribution of services. That’s why they ask for the help of deputies,” Awad said.