From Ahmet in Tunisia: "Asad, as if the Brotherhood had tested the regime capacity for bloody
repression, what a meek posture and notice how he finally slips a a pro forma
objection to the stationing of US troops on the Syrian borders the at the end,
probably after coming under fire from Leith Shbeilat and other critics. And
still, he is begging for more reform:
"And having seen that the world does not call
to account Assad, we in the Jordanian opposition have deep doubts about the true
intentions of the American and British troops who were reported to be on
Jordanian soil. They claim they are providing "protection to Jordan from Syrian
spillover", but we oppose any foreign troops on our land, and consider this a
clear violation of Jordanian sovereignty.
In Jordan, the regime has not shed blood; it pursues a
strategy of "clean repression". Regrettably, the victory of Hamas in the
2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections was used as an excuse to forge the
Jordanian elections in 2007. That was not a one-off: the Palestinian intifada
was also used as an excuse to suspend parliamentary life for two years, during
which time the government issued 200 temporary laws in the absence of a
parliament. Today the Arab spring is used as an excuse to delay, rather than
accelerate, reform.
Even so, in
the absence of bloodshed there is still hope. In our monarchical system, reform
is possible, and we have a history of reform that we can build upon. In
the 1950s, a constitution was enacted and a parliamentary government was formed.
In 1989, the Islamic Movement participated as a partner in the government and
led a programme of democratic transformation."""
