"
The latest act in this scenario saw King Abdullah make a return appearance to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday night, 25 September, 2012. Stewart afforded Abdullah the rare honor of extending the interview through two segments of the on-air show and then posting nine additional minutes to the show’s website. In this three-act play, Abdullah presented a coherent thesis about his role in the Middle East in general and in Jordan specifically. In this performance, buttressed by Stewart’s startling acquiescence, Abdullah is the wise elder statesman guiding the young people of the region toward a democracy that mimics the successful one built in the United States. He is a father figure recognizing that his people will make mistakes as they proceed but willing to stand in to protect them from the extremists who could lead them astray. However, this story only makes sense if performed in front of a narrowly targeted audience: one made up of Americans who know little about Jordan and for whom the image of Abdullah has become familiar and comforting. Both his vocabulary and themes he outlined come straight from a simplified reading of American political history and play on frequent explanations of Arab behavior discussed in the American press.
In the opening act of the play, Jon Stewart sets the scene by explaining that Jordan is a “constitutional monarchy” and King Abdullah quickly concurs with this assessment. No one with real knowledge of Jordan’s monarchal system would characterize it as such. Although Jordan has a constitution, which ostensibly could restrict the monarch’s powers, in practice the monarchy in Jordan has been above the law. Furthermore, the constitution gives the monarch wider-ranging powers over other branches of government, such as the ability to dismiss parliament and government cabinets at will. Indeed, calls for the introduction of an actual constitutional monarchy were some of the most provocative statements made by Jordanian reformers in early 2011. It was only with the growth of a pro-reform movement, and the ability of activists to overcome their fear of official repression as a result of broader regional developments, that frank discussions began about minimizing the king’s powers. Notwithstanding these small openings, discussions of this topic continue to be repressed as seen with arrests of political activists and journalists. For example, a journalist from the online news outlet Gerasa was arrested for reporting about the alleged interference of the king in a parliamentary corruption investigation concerning a former minister.
With no knowledge of this reality, Stewart applied the mantle of constitutional monarch to Abdullah in Acts 1 and 2, and with it, granted him the authority to analyze the events of the Arab Spring and to explain the reasons why he has been able to maintain his throne throughout these turbulent years. In his answers, Abdullah checked off talking points recognizable to the American policy establishment: “the republics are going through a much tougher version of this than the monarchies, funny enough;” “as young men and women aspired to political reform, those who were more organized like the Muslim Brotherhood sort of hijacked the movement;" but “in a way that is democracy.” During the course of the on-air portion of the interview, Abdullah and Stewart mapped out the three main groups they saw involved in the Arab Spring: enthusiastic but rash young people who need to be guided properly, moderates such as Abdullah who know the way but also understand that young people must be persuaded to accept their lead; and extremists who do not put their country first.
Abdullah addressed the mistakes he feels the republics have made and, by doing so, accepted the common trope in the American media that the Arab monarchies have been more stable because their subjects have natural loyalties to them. According to Abdullah, the republics of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia jumped into elections so quickly they have not been able to codify new constitutions defining their governmental structures and this mistake has led to instability. Jordan, on the other hand, has avoided this problem by following the same path as its fellow monarchy, Morocco, in adopting a gradual reform process that has seen the promulgation of a new constitution prior to the calling of new elections. Included within this document in Jordan is the introduction of a constitutional court, an independent elections commission, and additional protections for civil liberties.[i] While laying out constitutional rights familiar to an American audience, these reforms were in fact minimal and failed to address the most serious grievances put forth by reformists and members of the political opposition. Most importantly, the king’s prerogatives were not curtailed in any meaningful way; he has the ultimate power over the pace and direction of all governmental changes. For example, the independence promised to the new elections commission is debatable given the fact that members were appointed by royal decree. Furthermore, one of these constitutional amendments, the right to a civil trial, has already been violated.[ii] In just the past month, over fifteen political activists have been arrested for challenging Abdullah’s policies and for calling for his powers to be minimized. The arrested activists, who have been engaged in peaceful protest for months, have been charged under terrorism provisions and as such will be tried in front of a military security court.[iii] Abdullah’s statement in the interview that he recognized that the reforms had not gone far enough is disingenuous to say the least given the repressive countermeasures his government has enacted." (thanks Ahmet)
The latest act in this scenario saw King Abdullah make a return appearance to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday night, 25 September, 2012. Stewart afforded Abdullah the rare honor of extending the interview through two segments of the on-air show and then posting nine additional minutes to the show’s website. In this three-act play, Abdullah presented a coherent thesis about his role in the Middle East in general and in Jordan specifically. In this performance, buttressed by Stewart’s startling acquiescence, Abdullah is the wise elder statesman guiding the young people of the region toward a democracy that mimics the successful one built in the United States. He is a father figure recognizing that his people will make mistakes as they proceed but willing to stand in to protect them from the extremists who could lead them astray. However, this story only makes sense if performed in front of a narrowly targeted audience: one made up of Americans who know little about Jordan and for whom the image of Abdullah has become familiar and comforting. Both his vocabulary and themes he outlined come straight from a simplified reading of American political history and play on frequent explanations of Arab behavior discussed in the American press.
In the opening act of the play, Jon Stewart sets the scene by explaining that Jordan is a “constitutional monarchy” and King Abdullah quickly concurs with this assessment. No one with real knowledge of Jordan’s monarchal system would characterize it as such. Although Jordan has a constitution, which ostensibly could restrict the monarch’s powers, in practice the monarchy in Jordan has been above the law. Furthermore, the constitution gives the monarch wider-ranging powers over other branches of government, such as the ability to dismiss parliament and government cabinets at will. Indeed, calls for the introduction of an actual constitutional monarchy were some of the most provocative statements made by Jordanian reformers in early 2011. It was only with the growth of a pro-reform movement, and the ability of activists to overcome their fear of official repression as a result of broader regional developments, that frank discussions began about minimizing the king’s powers. Notwithstanding these small openings, discussions of this topic continue to be repressed as seen with arrests of political activists and journalists. For example, a journalist from the online news outlet Gerasa was arrested for reporting about the alleged interference of the king in a parliamentary corruption investigation concerning a former minister.
With no knowledge of this reality, Stewart applied the mantle of constitutional monarch to Abdullah in Acts 1 and 2, and with it, granted him the authority to analyze the events of the Arab Spring and to explain the reasons why he has been able to maintain his throne throughout these turbulent years. In his answers, Abdullah checked off talking points recognizable to the American policy establishment: “the republics are going through a much tougher version of this than the monarchies, funny enough;” “as young men and women aspired to political reform, those who were more organized like the Muslim Brotherhood sort of hijacked the movement;" but “in a way that is democracy.” During the course of the on-air portion of the interview, Abdullah and Stewart mapped out the three main groups they saw involved in the Arab Spring: enthusiastic but rash young people who need to be guided properly, moderates such as Abdullah who know the way but also understand that young people must be persuaded to accept their lead; and extremists who do not put their country first.
Abdullah addressed the mistakes he feels the republics have made and, by doing so, accepted the common trope in the American media that the Arab monarchies have been more stable because their subjects have natural loyalties to them. According to Abdullah, the republics of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia jumped into elections so quickly they have not been able to codify new constitutions defining their governmental structures and this mistake has led to instability. Jordan, on the other hand, has avoided this problem by following the same path as its fellow monarchy, Morocco, in adopting a gradual reform process that has seen the promulgation of a new constitution prior to the calling of new elections. Included within this document in Jordan is the introduction of a constitutional court, an independent elections commission, and additional protections for civil liberties.[i] While laying out constitutional rights familiar to an American audience, these reforms were in fact minimal and failed to address the most serious grievances put forth by reformists and members of the political opposition. Most importantly, the king’s prerogatives were not curtailed in any meaningful way; he has the ultimate power over the pace and direction of all governmental changes. For example, the independence promised to the new elections commission is debatable given the fact that members were appointed by royal decree. Furthermore, one of these constitutional amendments, the right to a civil trial, has already been violated.[ii] In just the past month, over fifteen political activists have been arrested for challenging Abdullah’s policies and for calling for his powers to be minimized. The arrested activists, who have been engaged in peaceful protest for months, have been charged under terrorism provisions and as such will be tried in front of a military security court.[iii] Abdullah’s statement in the interview that he recognized that the reforms had not gone far enough is disingenuous to say the least given the repressive countermeasures his government has enacted." (thanks Ahmet)
