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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Cleaning house
By Lola Keilani
King Abdullah of Jordan renewed his confidence in Prime Minister Abdel-Ra'ouf Al-Rawabdeh this week by approving a cabinet reshuffle -- thus silencing charges of a $15 million corruption episode levelled against him by parliamentarians. The reshuffle also dismissed the head of the Royal Court, well-known liberal and pro-Palestinian Abdel-Karim Al-Kabariti, who is a fierce opponent of Al-Rawabdeh's conservative policies.
The reshuffle itself, rather than bringing new faces to the cabinet, buoyed Al-Rawabdeh's political standing and proved his nickname, "bulldozer", is well deserved. The seven new appointees are widely considered either completely apolitical technocrats or well-known advocates of normalisation with Israel. They include Fayez Al-Tarawneh, the new head of the Royal Court and former chief negotiator with Israel, and Saleh Qallab, an articulate supporter of the peace treaty and a harsh opponent of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas. In one whopping swoop, Al-Rawabdeh managed to win most of his battles with deputies, the chief of the Royal Court, ministers and aspiring prime ministerial candidates.
Last week, Al-Rawabdeh challenged the lower house of parliament to investigate allegations of corruption levelled against his son. By pushing the chief of the Royal Court and influential advisers to the king to resign, he consolidated his control over decision- and policy-making.
Deputy Mahmoud Kharabsheh, head of the House Legal Affairs Committee, charged recently that the prime minister's son, Issam Al-Rawabdeh, had demanded a bribe from two Gulf nationals who sought to invest 108 million Jordanian dinars to build a tourist village near Queen Alia Airport. The prime minister denied the charges, vowing to resign if the assembly found any evidence of wrongdoing.
Although all documents pertaining to the allegations are in Kharabsheh's possession, the case will be referred to the prosecutor-general. Observers say it is unlikely that any evidence will be found incriminating the prime minister's son. "Basically, the issue will drag on and at the end of the day Kharabsheh will be forced to resign," said one analyst. Kharabsheh said he had evidence that Issam Al-Rawabdeh had demanded 15 million Jordanian dinars from the two men so they could win a floated tender. "I will prove every incident that I mentioned in writing, and if the accusations are not based on irrevocably concrete evidence then I will resign," he told the assembly.
As for the Royal Court, both Abdel-Karim Al-Kabariti, chief of the Royal Court, and Al-Rawabdeh have insisted they are working as a team. But their hidden differences have often resulted in many conflicting policies, according to officials and politicians. King Abdullah has remained above the political fray since he ascended the throne in February, but on occasion he has expressed dismay at what he sees as damaging frictions and altercations.
Al-Kabariti resigned on Thursday and has been replaced by Fayez Al-Tarawneh, who is said to have a good working relationship with Al-Rawabdeh. The same day, the following resignations were tendered: Salah Abu-Zeidan, adviser to the king and veteran former minister; the king's military adviser, Field Marshal Abdel-Hafez Mirai Al-Kaabneh, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Michel Hamarneh, long-time adviser to Prince Hassan; and Abdullah Sera, an adviser at the Royal Court. All men were extremely influential, especially Al-Kaabneh who was accused of involvement in changing the line of succession to the throne from Hassan, the former crown prince, to the incumbent King Abdullah.
This is Al-Rawabdeh's second cabinet reshuffle in less than a year. Observers say these reorganisations are not intended to make the cabinet more effective, but to keep the balance of power in the prime minister's hands by purging those opposed to his policies and weeding out others as a simple bureaucratic formality. "The Cabinet is now more homogeneous," said Musa Zaid, a political analyst. "We will not see any future changes in policy at the local or regional levels."
The ministers replaced included those responsible for energy, transport, health, information, justice, culture, post, telecommunications and trade and industry. The ministers of education and water, who were expected to be replaced, retained their posts despite allegations of corruption. "The prime minister did not replace them since he himself was accused of corruption by the same deputies," said one observer.
All seven new ministers are first-timers, though some of them have been working in the same ministry for years. Newly-appointed Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Halaiqa, Transport Minister Issa Ayyoub and Energy Minister Wael Sabri were all from the higher echelons of the ministries they are now heading.
The only surprise in the reshuffle was the appointment of columnist Saleh Qallab as information minister. Veteran journalist Qallab, who comes from one of Jordan's largest and most influential Bedouin tribes, has been close to Yasser Arafat's Al-Fatah faction and is regarded as the most politicised member of Al-Rawabdeh's new cabinet. The new minister has been a vocal supporter of government decisions, notably the crackdown late last year on Hamas.
Observers say the new set-up will deprive Al-Rawabdeh of any intra-Cabinet scapegoating for failures in economic policy. Policy-making will be no small feat, given Jordan's 28 per cent unemployment rate, $7 billion foreign debt and soaring prices. Al-Rawabdeh will have his hands full in the months to come.
