اململكة الأردنية الها�شمية رقم الإيداع لدى دائرة املكتبة الوطنية )2008 /12 / 4085( عو�ض ، احمد حممد Guide to Political Life in Jordan 2007-2011 عمان : موؤ�ش�شة فريدري�ض ايربت 2008 د.�أ )4085 / 12/ 2008( Published in 2008 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Jordan P.O. Box 926238, Amman 11110 - Jordan www.fes-jordan.org © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2008 Published in 2008 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Jordan P.O. Box 926238, Amman 11110 - Jordan www.fes-jordan.org © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publishers. Edited by: Phenix, Economic & ICT Studies General Manager: Ahmad Awad P.O.Box: 304 Amman 11941 - Jordan www.phenixcenter.org Printing: Economic Printing Press, Amman, Jordan Design and layout: Maya Chami, Beirut, Lebanon Democracy means Participation In November 2007, the Jordanians elected their new parliament for the next four years. However, democratic participation does not end but only begins with participating in elections. Democracies are built on the citizens' ongoing and continuous participation. Persons who have been elected to represent the voters have to act in a transparent manner and have to implement the programs presented during the election process. It hence lies in the voters' responsibility to follow up on how political decision makers are acting on their election pledges and ensure an ongoing dialogue between representatives and the people they represent. It is only by this means, and with the support and the consent of the electorate, that governance can attain genuine legitimacy. Without this legitimacy and without comprehensive public participation in the political process, no system of governance truly deserves to be labelled democratic. Designed for decision-makers, civil society actors and for individuals inside and outside of Jordan, this Guide to Jordanian Political Life is truly unique in its scope. It comprises information on political decision makers in Parliament and in all Government ministries. It gives an overview over political parties, trade unions and also comprises information on professional associations in Jordan. Thus, it covers all aspects of Jordanian politics. One important objective of the Guidebook is to present the members of the new Parliament. Readers will be provided with contact information and the political programs of each MP. Furthermore, each ministry and various other political actors in Jordan are presented in a well-assorted and easily accessible way. Taking account of the notion of ownership, the Guide for Jordanian Political Life has been created by Jordanians for Jordanians. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung would particularly like to thank the authors of the Phoenix Center for Economic and Information Studies for their excellent work and their devotion to this project. In addition, FES would like to stress that the implementation of this project would not have been possible without continuous encouragement and support from the Jordanian political actors themselves. Hence, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, H.E. Abdul-Hadi al-Majali, who kindly assisted and facilitated the development of this publication. Simultaneously, FES would like to thank all Ministry executives, Members of Parliament, representatives of political parties, trade unions and professional associations who dedicated a considerable amount of time and effort to assure that the information published is correct and comprehensive. To point out this transparent and participatory procedure in writing the book seems imperative with regard to the question of objectivity. The authors are well aware of the fact that in order to safeguard political neutrality, only the political actors themselves were qualified and entitled to determine their presentation in this Guidebook. Obviously, this procedure induces that the responsibility for the published information ultimately rests with the respective persons themselves. The Guidebook aims at strengthening democratic participation in the political process but also attempts to foster international cooperation between Jordanian and international actors. For this reason, the book is also available in an English edition. Dr. Michael Bröning Director Amman Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 9th May 2008 Introduction This guide comes as a basic reference for major political players in Jordan, represented by members of lower and upper houses, the government, represented by ministries, in addition to political parties, and trade unions and professional associations. In this guide, full information about members of the upper house have been presented, like their CVs, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and the standing committees they operate through; concerning lower house members, in addition to their CVs, we presented a summary of their political, social, and economic programs, which we received from different sources, some deputies sent their electoral programs, others have presented a written summary, for the rest of them, we have analyzed their speeches which they presented during the parliament discussions for the confidence voting for the government, in addition to their speeches during the parliament discussion for the 2008 general budget. Concerning the government, all operating ministries in Eng. Nader Al- Dahabi’s cabinet have been presented, also the objectives, address, e-mail, phone numbers and current minister’s name for each ministry have been presented. Concerning the Jordanian political parties, all the parties that corrected its legal status according to the new political parties law, have been presented, the total number is fourteen political parties; their information included date of establishment, address, phone numbers, names of general assembly members, and a small summary for its political program and organizational structure. Concerning trade unions and professional associations, the information included date of establishment, objectives, names of councils members and elected general assembly. In addition to that, the guide includes a historical and present introduction to parliamentary life, in addition to going through parliament members electing and working mechanisms. The guide also includes listing names, functions and members of upper and lower houses standing committees. It is expected that this guide will be useful to all political players in Jordan, upper house members, deputies, ministers, parties members, unions members, researchers, and media people, in addition to Arab, regional, and international organizations; because such a publication presents an updated database about the major political players in Jordan In the end, we hope that this guide will be helpful and useful to all political and social sides ion Jordan, and we would like to thank all those who participated in preparing it from upper house members, deputies, political parties leaders, directors of trade unions and professional associations, who’s without their cooperation this guide wouldn’t have seen the light; in addition to the cooperation of a lot of upper and lower houses officials, and we would like to mention general secretary of the upper house Dr. Khalaf Al-Hmesat, general secretary of the lower house, Mr. Fayez Al-Shawabkah, in addition to Mr. Mohammad Al-Husseni, Mr. Jameel Hamad, Mr. Salman Naqrash; and the field researchers who continued working till the last moment before sending the draft to the printing press, especially Ms. Huda Yousef, Ms. Abeer Fouad, and also the book designer Ms. Maya Al-Shami, and the special thanks is to our partners in preparing this guide, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Ahmad Awad General Director Phoenix Center 9th of May, 2008 Table of Contents The House of Parliament in the Jordanian Political Life........11 Senates...........................................................................................49 Deputies.......................................................................................115 Ministries......................................................................................311 Parties..........................................................................................337 Professional Associations.............................................................359 Trade Unions ...............................................................................373 10 The House of Parliament in the Jordanian Political Life Historical introduction With the end of WWI and the defeat of the Ottoman state, both Britain and France shared power over land that was once part of the Ottoman state, under the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement which was signed by France and Britain in 1916. The land mentioned in this agreement is what used to be called “East Jordan” under the British leverage. The Sykes-Picot agreement coincided with the arrival of the Great Arab Revolt’s forces, lead by Al-Sharif Al-Hussein Bin Ali, launched in Mecca against the Ottoman state. In 1921, Prince Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein (King Abdullah I) established the Emirate of Transjordan under the British mandate which continued until the end of WWII in 1946 when Britain acknowledged Jordan an independent state, whilst maintaining a treaty to manage the relationships between the two countries. Jordan’s independence was declared in May 1946 as “The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan”. A few months after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948