Green Energy
Yahoo:
Hundreds of Jordanians set up protest in capital
By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan – Hundreds of Jordanians set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital on Thursday to press demands for the ouster of the prime minister and wider public freedoms.
The 500 protesters appeared to be mostly university students or unemployed graduates unaffiliated with any political party. Many said they met through Facebook last month to launch a group called the Jordanian Youth Movement.
Group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh said protesters would remain outdoors until Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit departs. Other demands include dissolving what is widely seen as a docile parliament, dismantling the largely feared intelligence department and giving greater powers to the people.
The group changed its name Thursday to "Youth of March 24" — marking what members said was the start of an open-ended demonstration.
"Today is the dawning of the Jordanian revolution," said group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh, 23.
"We will not move an inch from here until our demands are met," he said under pouring rain at the Interior Ministry Circle in the heart of the Jordanian capital. The district houses the Interior Ministry and police, financial and other government offices as well as Western hotels.
Protesters waved banners that called for a "new Jordan, clean of corruption and corrupt officials."
"Intelligence Department, we want your hands off politics!" they chanted.
Al-Khawaldeh said the protesters want Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit to be "instantly replaced with a liberal government that would quickly implement reforms."
Al-Bakhit, a former army general, is widely regarded as a tough military officer incapable of introducing changes demanded by protesters. Those reforms include an election law replacing a one seen as favoring the king's loyalists and blamed for producing a docile parliament, the only elected body in Jordan's government.
Jordan's opposition also want to strip the king of some of his powers, specifically in appointing the prime minister. Instead, they want the premier to be elected by a popular vote.
Protester Mohammed al-Qaisi, 23, said the protesters want parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be held under a new election law, giving more proportional representation to Jordanians and reducing the number of votes in districts inhabited by tribesmen, who form the bedrock of support for the king.
"Enough is enough," said al-Qaisi, an unemployed sociologist. "We don't want the king to go, but we want him to listen to us; We're fed up with al-Bakhit, with parliament and with Jordan being a police state ruled by the intelligence department."
Taxi driver Haitham Yassin, 29, said he joined the protest because "I want the king to know that I became a taxi driver because I couldn't find a job as an electronic engineer."
"My degree went to waste," he said. "Still, I can barely make ends meet now. I have three children and I can't meet all their needs because prices are constantly increasing, while my salary remains the same."
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Green Energy
Yahoo:
Hundreds of Jordanians set up protest in capital
By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan – Hundreds of Jordanians set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital on Thursday to press demands for the ouster of the prime minister and wider public freedoms.
The 500 protesters appeared to be mostly university students or unemployed graduates unaffiliated with any political party. Many said they met through Facebook last month to launch a group called the Jordanian Youth Movement.
Group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh said protesters would remain outdoors until Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit departs. Other demands include dissolving what is widely seen as a docile parliament, dismantling the largely feared intelligence department and giving greater powers to the people.
The group changed its name Thursday to "Youth of March 24" — marking what members said was the start of an open-ended demonstration.
"Today is the dawning of the Jordanian revolution," said group spokesman Ziad al-Khawaldeh, 23.
"We will not move an inch from here until our demands are met," he said under pouring rain at the Interior Ministry Circle in the heart of the Jordanian capital. The district houses the Interior Ministry and police, financial and other government offices as well as Western hotels.
Protesters waved banners that called for a "new Jordan, clean of corruption and corrupt officials."
"Intelligence Department, we want your hands off politics!" they chanted.
Al-Khawaldeh said the protesters want Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit to be "instantly replaced with a liberal government that would quickly implement reforms."
Al-Bakhit, a former army general, is widely regarded as a tough military officer incapable of introducing changes demanded by protesters. Those reforms include an election law replacing a one seen as favoring the king's loyalists and blamed for producing a docile parliament, the only elected body in Jordan's government.
Jordan's opposition also want to strip the king of some of his powers, specifically in appointing the prime minister. Instead, they want the premier to be elected by a popular vote.
Protester Mohammed al-Qaisi, 23, said the protesters want parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be held under a new election law, giving more proportional representation to Jordanians and reducing the number of votes in districts inhabited by tribesmen, who form the bedrock of support for the king.
"Enough is enough," said al-Qaisi, an unemployed sociologist. "We don't want the king to go, but we want him to listen to us; We're fed up with al-Bakhit, with parliament and with Jordan being a police state ruled by the intelligence department."
Taxi driver Haitham Yassin, 29, said he joined the protest because "I want the king to know that I became a taxi driver because I couldn't find a job as an electronic engineer."
"My degree went to waste," he said. "Still, I can barely make ends meet now. I have three children and I can't meet all their needs because prices are constantly increasing, while my salary remains the same."
- King Abdullah's Motorcade Attacked
Fox: Tossed Bottles or Warm 'Welcome' for Jordan's King AMMAN, Jordan – King Abdullah II was met by either tossed bottles and stones, or a warm welcome, on a visit to Jordan's south on Monday, according to conflicting reports from government...
-
Reuters: Kuwait protesters swell in number, call for PM change Tue Mar 8, 2011 6:38pm GMT By Eman Goma and Jason Benham KUWAIT (Reuters) - Several hundred Kuwaitis demonstrated on Tuesday evening for a change of the Gulf state's prime minister and...
-
Breitbart: Kuwait key opposition group calls for PM ouster A key Kuwaiti opposition group on Monday demanded the ouster of the prime minister as youth activists called for a rally on March 8 to force the premier to quit. "The first step toward reforms...
-
Newsmax: Jordan's King Abdullah Sacks Goverment Amid Protests Tuesday, 01 Feb 2011 AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan's King Abdullah has sacked his government in the wake of street protests and has asked an ex-army general to form a new cabinet, the Royal...
- Jordanian Commandoes Are Headed For Iraq:
Strategy Page says that Jordanian commandoes are headed for Iraq: Jordanians were very angry at the November 9th al Qaeda suicide bombings in Jordan. The attacks killed mostly Jordanians and other Arabs. Jordan, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Sunni...