A military show by the Jordanian army Amman – Osama Arranitssi Former Jordanian Prime Minister Ahmad Obeidat said that the constitutional amendments did not imply the “people are the source of authority” principle.  In a conference held at the Professional Association Complex, Obeidat added that when he met the Jordan’s King Abdullah with other former prime ministers, he addressed the issue of massive military expenditure, which “burdens the country’s budget, having increased from 600 million dinars to about 2 billion dinars in the past five years.”
Obeidat said he brought up the issue of lands registered under the King’s name, however, another former prime minister replied by saying it was “inappropriate” to discuss such estates as they are “used in projects that serve Jordanian citizens.”
He added that he offered the King a list of names of corrupt individuals, and he addressed the role of security forces in the recent incidents in Jordan. In that respect, Obeidat accused the security of incitement against political forces and of striking national unity. The former PM pointed that the head of Public Security Hussein Al-Majali provided misleading information to the royal office concerning the incidents that took place in Salhub and Mafraq.
Obeidat criticised the amendments as they “denied political parties and individuals the right to directly appeal against the constitution before court.”
He also criticised the persistence of keeping the State Security Court dealing with cases outside its original jurisdiction.
Obeidat stated that the National Front for Reform believes that the royal committee assigned for drafting the constitutional amendments was unjustifiably confidential and lacked of transparency, adding that the legal experts in the committee are to be held fully responsible for the consequences of the amendments.
The Front was extremely disgruntled by the fact that senior officials seize hundreds of millions of Iraqi money deposits, which were frozen by the Jordanian government following Baghdad’s fall in 2003, according to Obeidat, who called for disclosing such corruption and recovering the money from the illegal beneficiaries, as well as putting them to trial.
He also condemned some governments for giving treasury money to a number of MPs, to have them distribute it on their voters and accountants, pointing that a former head of Intelligence “brags about granting two thirds of the MPs seats” in the 2007 parliament.
“When the policy of mutual extortion between governments and parliaments, which prevailed for nearly two decades, ends... when the limit to the freedom of press and media is the sky, when the public is convinced that fighting corruption has become an approach of the state, and just laws are applied on all, only then can Jordanians believe that the path of reform is clear,” said Obeidat.
He added that national unity is targeted, and called on Jordanians to stand up against any possible sedition.