Press boycott of Parliament

One of the phenomena in Jordan that have been puzzling me since I arrived here almost two years ago is the widespread use of boycotting as a political tool. While a boycott might be a legitimate instrument, the risk of a boycott backfiring is much higher than its chance of success.

Take the latest boycott example of (most of) the Jordanian Press boycotting the Parliament. It is really strange.

The Parliament was expected to pass a law amendment that would reduce/abolish a tax on newspaper ads. But the amendment was rejected by a majority – so it didn’t pass. One argument from the majority was that the government hadn’t respected the Constitution in the first place. Another argument, this time from the Press, was, that the parliamentarians were unhappy about the Press reporting on a  unfavourable poll about Parliament performance and that MP’s thus took revenge by rejecting a law favourable to the Press.

All mainstream newspapers (apart from Jordan Times) were apparently offended by some harsh remarks (not identifiable) from a parliamentarian about the Press. That triggered the standard response: boycott unless an apology is issued.

And this is where I don’t get it. The Press decided almost unanimously to boycott the whole parliament. It simply goes against the idea of professional reporting. What use is a boycott to the press when it needs to able to report on all sorts of political developments? Of course the editors can fight their political fight in the editorials, but why should the public be held hostage and not be told about what happens in such an important institution as a Parliament. And this has nothing to do with whether the Parliament is performing or not. Let the readers decide based on the news reports. Luckily this has so far ended with the newspapers giving up their boycott – without receiving any kind of apology – but I expect this is just another round in an ongoing battle between the first and fourth political power.

Next round has begun with the idea in the Parliament administration to regulate who among the journalists will have physical access to the Parliament….

You can read the developments yourself here, here, here and here.

Blogging in the Arab World (and Jordan)

The Berkman Centre and Harward Law School is conducting a study on Intenet and Democracy. As part of that study a mapping of blogs in the Arab World has recently been published on this link.

On Jordan the report says:

This cluster contains mainly Jordanians, but also some Palestinians. It has the highest proportion of women in the Levantine/English Bridge group. Female bloggers comprise 40.2%, 30.2%, and 33% of the Jordanian, Lebanese, and English Bridge clusters, respectively. Women’s issues are more widely talked about here than any other cluster (54.2% vs. 19.1% across the map). Jordanian bloggers are less critical of domestic leaders than Lebanese (29.2% vs. 51.6%), probably reflecting Lebanon’s more democratic system. Bloggers in this cluster use the word ‘Palestine’ more frequently than any other cluster, and ‘Nakba’ (1948 Palestinian exodus) more frequently than all but the Egyptian Religious cluster.

 Any comments?

Global Peace Index – DK second most peaceful country

The annual GPI index “Vision of Humanity” was published on the 160th constitution day of Denmark (yesterday that was). DK got a nice gift on the occasion. Once again DK is the second most peaceful (and stable) country in the world. Only NZ is a notch ahead again.

Have a look at the figures and methodology at the GPI site for more info. And try also to make a comparison between two countries – like for instance Denmark and Jordan (ranking 64th). It is clear where the big and decisive differences are. Political instability, likelihood of violent demonstrations and military expenditure.

Looking a bit more closely you will see the very large difference in the driving political factors of democracy and transparency. Very low Jordanian scores on electoral process, functioning of government, political participation, civil liberties and corruption. These political factors are among the most important drivers of peacefulness and stability.

Rising Temperatures – Rising Tensions

Primarily thanks to the continuous efforts of environmentalists climate change has now become an established item on the global agenda. On a lower level “Being green” and showing care for the environment is in many countries regarded as a luxury in the light of everyday challenges but I think this is changing for good. Climate change has serious – and devastating – security implications. A scenario where migration is forced by and wars are fought over climate and resources has today a high probability of becoming reality.

Imagine what a people or a country will do if suddenly faced with no access to drinking water – or food – or land….

The Middle East – including Jordan – is often considered as one of the regions mostly affected by the impacts of climate change. The Middle East is also frequently presented as one of the regions that is most likely to erupt into conflict as a result of Climate change. In Jordan climate change is also very present in daily life. We name it draught or water scarcity and we see the Dead Sea shrinking every year. Rainfall has dropped and water consumption gone up and while a part of it is due to local phenomena this development will be accentuated by climate change to an intolerable degree.

For the countries of the Levant the disruptive impact of climate change will be determined by their vulnerability and their ability to adapt to its impact. Climate change might actually offer an incentive for countries in the region to work together despite their political differences. On the other hand given the current political landscape, to some extent characterized by general distrust among most if not all neighbours, hostility and current lack of cooperation, climate change could more likely aggravate tensions in a number of sombre ways.

Climate change is a fact of life and there is increasing global consensus that human activity carries a major responsibility for this. Climate change is furthermore one of the most serious threats facing the world – reducing the availability of water, threatening the production of food, undermining economic growth and threatening the very existence of some parts of the world. We therefore have to act fast through a firm global response.

Denmark will host the United Nations global meeting on climate change – the so called COP15 – in Copenhagen in December. Our objective is to conclude a new, ambitious global agreement on climate change that includes all countries of the world – including Jordan. The agreement should contain ambitious targets for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions considered the most important driver of climate change.

Against this background the Danish Embassy together with the International Institute for Sustainable Development will launch a report “Rising Temperatures – Rising Tensions” on how climate change can have a positive as well as a negative impact on present and future security challenges in the Middle East. It is our hope that the report can contribute to the broader efforts of promoting peace and security in Middle East.

The Launch will take place today at 17.00 at The Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC) and will be followed by a presentation of the report by one of its authors Mr. Oli Brown (IISD) and a panel discussion on the report’s findings. Places will be allocated on a first come – first serve basis, and please give a call to the embassy (592 66 20) if you plan to attend. A summary of the report can be downloaded here Rising temp rising tensions – summary.

UPDATE: The full (worth the read) report (4.4 MB) can be downloaded from this link. And a frontpage article from Jordan Times.