Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 23)
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- Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 23)
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A qualitative change has taken place in the press. The
Jordanian media are now presenting criticism and the uncen-
sored views of the opposition. Essentially, censorship has
disappeared.
The other issue we are concerned about in the parlia-
ment is the devastated economy. The continuing high prices,
inflation, unemployment, etc., still constitute a big worry for
us. We have insistently raised the issue of the economic
crisis and holding those responsible accountable. The gov-
ernment has promised to investigate this issue and has given
the financial committee of the parliament complete author-
ity to follow up this matter.
We have also raised the issue of the high percentage of
foreign labor in the country. The government’s reaction was
positive. Regarding this issue, the government responded by
making a decision to stop importing foreign laborers and to
cease renewing their work permits. Local laborers are to
replace foreigners with the exception, of course, of certain
sectors where local workers are not available or qualified,
such as in nursing and agriculture.
We were confronted with the obstacle of private
employers who prefer to hire foreign laborers. Some of the
owners of private businesses went as far as threatening the
government with closing down their businesses if they were
forced to replace their foreign workers by locals. This, need-
less to say, would be harmful to the economy. We have cal-
led on the private sector to contribute to improving the
economic situation by helping us to resolve the problem of
unemployment.
Moreover, there is the problem of the government find-
ing the funds to cover subsidies on basic foodstuffs, and the
scarcity of hard currency.
Democratic Palestine, March-April 1990
We have noted that the budget for 1990 does not
provide for reforms in the economy; meanwhile,
the debt crisis still exists; the government has
submitted to the IMF’s conditions; and there is
still heavy dependence on foreign aid, inflation,
etc. What is your analysis?
I agree that the steps taken so far in regards to
economic reforms are merely temporary measures. Radical
steps to reverse the economic faults that have accumulated
over the years haven’t taken place yet. In fact, the 1990
budget was drawn up prior to the new situation. The
economic structure in Jordan is deformed. The budget does
not propose any new projects, but only the financing of
existing ones.
Concerning the debt, some within the government have
asked us - the leftists - to demand the cancellation of all
agreements with the IMF, and for Jordan to say no to
repaying its debts. We didn’t openly declare that Jordan
won't pay, but Jordan will not pay. I say this to explain that
the government realizes that the debt problem is grave, and
that it has no means to pay.
As for aid and loans, I want to emphasize that we are
not against loans. Some loans, such as development loans,
are beneficial. I dor:’t believe that any country can do with-
out loans. We must, however, differentiate between
development loans and loans that are just used to cover
expenses. I believe that a large portion of our outstanding
loans are high-interest, which has contributed to the debt
crisis. Personally, I’m not against development loans
because they have a low-interest rate and a tolerable defray-
‘ment period. Usually, there is a five to six-year period,
where the government doesn’t have to repay anything, and
a 15 to 16-year defrayment period, which is very reasonable,
if the loan was invested in a good economic project. In the
past, particularly during Rifai’s government, high-interest
loans were taken and used to finance the budget deficit and
pay salaries.
To go back to the issue of democratic freedoms,
we hear of some violations such as refusing to
grant entrance permits at the borders to individu-
als residing abroad. How do you explain this and
do you discuss these issues in the parliament?
To be honest with you, we in the parliament until now
haven’t paid enough attention to the issue of citizens
abroad, simply because we were busy with the domestic situ-
ation. Personally, although I realize that there is a great
number of Jordanian citizens living outside Jordan, and they
have many problems, I believe that resolving our internal
problems is the first priority, taking into consideration the
time factor. The new parliament has only been in session for
three months. We realize that not paying enough attention
to this issue is a shortcoming, but when we see that there
are hundreds of citizens who have not had passports or even
family records for 40 years, and their sons are drafted but
meanwhile deprived of admission to universities, etc., we
feel that our duty is to resolve their problems first.
This issue was raised once in the parliament at the same
23 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 38
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- أبريل ١٩٩٠
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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