Jordan's government is currently a Constitutional Monarchy run by King Abdullah II. He only recently gave up the power of appointing the Prime Minister to Parliament, but it appears that compromise was not enough to settle the masses. Abdullah II's power as King and Head of State allows him to dismiss any part of the government, which some argue that power should be given to the Parliament.
The rise of protests got me interested due to our class discussion on how protests organize. While the articles do not mention whether or not social media was used, it is hard to believe that it played no role in the protests. Also with these protests, it appears there are some larger organizations focusing on rallying protesters. The Muslim Brotherhood branch in Jordan is one of the bigger groups trying to get people to boycott the election. As it was mentioned in class last week, this is exactly the thing the Muslim Brotherhood does when they are unable to win an election. These protests though, do not seem to be random people getting connected through social media. Rather, they look like they are being organized by larger groups and activists with a set goal in mind.
Jordan is going to be a place to keep
an eye on after these elections take place. A new candidate for
Parliament related Jordan to “a grenade ready to explode” and
that the only thing preventing it are these elections.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201311814194824370.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/middleeast/as-elections-near-protesters-in-jordan-increasingly-turn-anger-toward-the-king.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/middleeast/as-elections-near-protesters-in-jordan-increasingly-turn-anger-toward-the-king.html?_r=0
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