Islamists urge ‘genuinely inclusive dialogue’ between gov’t, parties

AMMAN — A senior Islamist leader has said that “the incumbent government does not seem to be able to do a better job” than previous governments.

Deputy Secretary General of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) Mohammad Akel made his remarks as Prime Minister Omar Razzaz has vowed major changes and solutions to the Kingdom’s problems.

In an interview with The Jordan Times this week, Akel said that the makeup of PM Razzaz’ Cabinet, which includes 15 ministers from the former government, is not promising, for “purely professional reasons”.

“The IAF does not point fingers at ministers because of their personal lives, but for their inability to perform their job. Looking at the CVs of these ministers, I do not believe things will turn out differently.”

The Reform Bloc at the House, which represents the IAF, already filled a memorandum in the Lower House for the withdrawal of confidence from the past government and as half of that government remains in the office, the party’s position is not likely to change.

Razzaz’ new government has benefitted from a major media halo that was created to make the emergency of the new premier as appealing as possible, he said.

“Add to that the fact that decision makers are trying to remove many obstacles that may fall as barriers before the new government through changes at the Royal Court and other state agencies,” the IAF official said.

“The recent demonstrations have brought back the power to the grassroots and injected a sense of hope in the people”, said Akel, who said that the IAF, which is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, was there at these rallies, but took a different approach of participation from the conventional methods.

“During the Ramadan demonstrations, all political parties unanimously decided to keep a distance since we witnessed a vibrant and unified movement,” said Akel.

“We were there; our young men and women were there, but we decided to save the protest movement the hassle of being labelled as dominated by Islamists,” added Akel.

That was a sound decision for the Islamists, he said, especially since

Islamists in Jordan had been subjected to a “major demonisation campaign led by centres of power in the Kingdom”.

“I remember in 2012, I read 13 articles in one paper all attacking the Islamic movement. Such propaganda would scare people away from Islamists, of course,” added Akel, who insisted that his group has always been peaceful and law-abiding during its rallies and other activities.

Regarding the possibility of reaching out to the government and other political movements and civil society, Akel stressed that “we view political parties and even the government as potential political partners” in the country’s pursuit of reforms, pointing out that his group believes that political reforms are a prerequisite to economic reforms.

“I must say that the current meetings between political parties and the Razzaz government are only a form of formalities and protocol. We need a genuinely inclusive dialogue that digs deep into the problematic matters. Discussions, where each party is only allowed three minutes to speak, are no more feasible,” said Akel.

“I hope that the partnership among political parties and decision makers would become stronger because the Kingdom needs major efforts to rise from the situation we are in,” Akel concluded.

Islamists urge ‘genuinely inclusive dialogue’ between gov’t, parties