Tough tasks ahead for the presidency

MP Dr. Ibrahim Al-Tarawneh has become Speaker of the House of Representatives. He previously served as a member of the Senate, headed the Dental Association for two consecutive terms, chaired the Council of Syndicates, and is also a party member.

It is a rich record, and it will be tested in the position of parliamentary speaker. The Speaker will most likely pass this test, particularly as parliament has difficult files ahead in the coming days, whose effects may extend over an entire year, the length of Al-Tarawneh’s term as Speaker, amid forces that may be allies of his or may seek to weaken him.

Among the most prominent of these files are the possible amendments to the penal code and to the laws on combating and preventing terrorism. These amendments have been prompted by the circumstances we have seen in Jordan recently, from the Karak incident to the Amman incident, amid a government and parliamentary push to change the penalties. The difficulty here does not lie in the main headings, but in concerns that the amendments could come close to restricting freedom of expression or other liberties. No one disagrees about criminalising terrorism and combating it.

The dividing line between preventing terrorism and criminalising those involved in it, and any written comment that could be understood as sympathy with them, is a fine one. This requires the presidency and MPs to handle the file in a balanced, sensitive and precise way, and to guard against the risk of MPs rushing to make demands under these headings that lead to excessive expansion of the amendments.

The second file concerns amendments to social security law. Leaked information suggests the amendments will be less severe than those previously stalled in parliament, because of public reaction. But we must wait to learn the details, and to see how well MPs can handle them at a time of great sensitivity, especially given the charged atmosphere that surrounded the handling of the earlier amendments. The position of the opposition is also important here: what will it say this time?

In a package close behind, come amendments to the elections law. This is also no easy matter, and parliament is anticipating these changes. The key point is that the impact on the upcoming elections may not be limited to opposition candidates. It may also worry centrist party currents if it turns out to affect the chances of many of them returning, amid a party life that has effectively stagnated. Throughout the past period, parties have not used the time to activate their work or assert their presence. Some seem to have been content with a functional role during the previous elections, before returning to a state of “revolutionary dormancy.”

There is also the budget law, with its financial increase in public employee salaries, figures for public debt, the deficit and borrowing, and what these indicate about the overall state of affairs and the economic life under pressure from both domestic conditions and the regional situation. There are also the costs of the major projects being discussed, which must be started without a timetable for technical or political reasons, all against a regional backdrop that is rugged and far from easy.

The presidency’s ability will become clear through how it manages the scene and the internal clashes, in a complicated equation in some respects. MPs who accept the election amendments may not stay silent over the social security amendments, and if we analyse the performance of MPs, we will quickly see that consensus cannot be reached on all the difficult files so far, because interests and orientations conflict.

I believe the new parliament’s leadership is aware of all these maps, and will be able to manage the scene, because everyone in Jordan today has an interest in calm rather than agitation, without calm meaning any violation of people’s rights or forcing on them what they do not want.