AMMAN (Middle East Eye) – A Jordanian lawmaker has urged Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to stop sending financial aid to Amman, the London-based Arabi 21 news website has reported.
In a letter sent to the office of Mohammed bin Salman, Muhammad Inad al-Fayez thanked Riyadh for “extending a helping hand” to Jordan but said most of the funds end up with the “corrupt class”.
“All Saudi aid is requested at the expense of the Jordanian people’s dignity and then it is put in the pockets of a corrupt group,” al-Fayez said.
“The message of Jordanians is: We do not want aid, nor do we want donations, for our country is full of bounties.
“Our pride won’t allow us to be called ‘beggars’.”
The letter, dated 14 December, was sent two days after a two-day visit by Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh to Riyadh.
Al-Fayez has been a vocal supporter of the recent truck and public transport strikes that snowballed into anti-government protests and riots.
Earlier this month, he visited a protest site in the southern city of Maan, which has been the centre of the demonstrations.
According to a 2022 report by Arab Barometer, Jordanians’ trust in their government sank to historic lows this year, and is now 41 points lower than at the time of the Arab Spring uprisings.
The main driver of Jordanians’ loss of faith in their government is the economy, with nearly two-thirds listing it as the most critical problem facing Jordan.
The country is coping with a soaring cost of living crisis and the inability to provide jobs for many of its youth. Jordan’s traditional government contract, which consisted of the ruling Hashemite family dishing out patronage jobs to the country’s tribes, has fractured as state coffers run dry.
Jordan’s tourism industry, a rare bright spot for the country, was particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Since 2019, total unemployment has ticked up from 19 percent to 23 percent and is currently 50 percent for the kingdom’s youth. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also contributed to rising prices.
Jordanians from different backgrounds, regions and social levels rated the economy equally, with just 15 percent classifying it as “good”, suggesting widespread discontent within the kingdom.
The level of economic frustration and loss of faith in government is noteworthy because Jordan largely evaded the upheaval that struck its neighbors following the 2011 Arab Spring.