*The walk-out by 24 deputies in protest over government bread policies and over national television's failure to air their speeches has created an embarrassing precedent in Jordanian political life. Both the government and the deputies were left eying each other in consternation. It looks as if both have cornered themselves into a situation where face-saving solutions are urgently needed.
On the one hand, the boycott, which effectively strips Lower House sessions of their legal quorum rendering the extraordinary session obsolete, is a blow to Lower House Speaker Sa'ad Hail Srour. He is supposed to bring the House to order and maintain authority at all times. But his initial attempts to bring the rogue deputies, mostly from the IAF, back to the fold has failed. On the other hand, the mutiny underlines the tension that now characterizes the relations between the House and the government of Prime Minister Abdel Karim Kabariti.
The two-week old crisis is further complicated by the fact that the House committee on the issue of bread and fodder subsidies, which is supposed to present its own recommendations on the government policies, may become divided since the government does not appear to be ready to make any compromises. The government issued its new policies on Monday, two days before the House was to vote on the committee's suggestions.
While the Kabariti government marches on unaffected by rising political objections to its controversial "adjustment" of bread subsidies, it is not giving away signs of internal rift over the issue. Mr Kabariti now appears in control of his cabinet defying suggestions a couple of weeks ago that he was facing protests from members of his team over recent food policies.
Mr Srour, on the other hand, would have liked this extraordinary session to have a happy ending. If the boycott persists it may well give His Majesty the reason to dissolve Parliament altogether and give the Kabariti government some breathing space. Surely, with Jordan focusing much on external policies at this stage, the last thing the government wants is political stunts of the kind now promoted by the opposition deputies. Meanwhile, some deputies even hinted that they may resign their post to further embarrass the government. That too would be dealt with more firmly, it is believed.
One thing now appears clear. The government will not cave in to pressure over its reform program. But the deputies may have reason to protest. For instance, national television should not take sides when covering Parliamentary issues. It did not in the past, why should it do that now? Many controversial issues that were debated in Parliament received "objective" TV coverage where many points of views, including those opposed to the government, had a fair coverage.
Mr Srour had offered the 24 deputies the chance to air their grievances in Wednesday's session but they declined calling on him to use his right as specified in the House by-laws to prevent television coverage of the House deliberations in the future. Now, that is a little too harsh. A public reprimand of the national TV would have sufficed.
The fact is the deputies are playing a gamble. They're using the crisis to bring attention to them and to their position. That's to be understood and even accepted. But what can't be accepted is to risk derailing the House's session and the legislative process in its entirety over such an issue. Walking out is not the solution. They made their case when they walked out the first time. But the political game requires them to go back now and do what they were hired for; to legislate, debate, oppose and propose.
* Jordanians woke up Tuesday morning and saw bread as if they were looking at it for the first time! The new hiked up tariffs became effective more than a month since the government announced that it was studying ways to lift bread subsidies and compensate deserving citizens with the difference in price. The same day the new price was slapped, the government began distributing cash subsidies to all Jordanians. Minister of Information, Dr Marwan Muasher said Tuesday that on the first day 10,000 people had applied and received their cash rebate. He added that the government was satisfied with the cash dispensation procedures. Now, if only the government can do something about compensating citizens for the sudden hike in the cost of such essential items such as yoghurt, cheese, milk and falafel sandwiches, we'll all be one happy family again!