Jordanian security forces arrested prominent members of the opposition-led teachers union on Saturday, raided their offices and closed it for two years, intensifying a confrontation with a group that has become a major source of dissent.
Prosecutors accused Nasser Nawasreh, the acting head of the Jordanian Teachers Union, of inciting a speech to supporters last Wednesday that criticized Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz’s government. State media said other charges were related to allegations of financial and administrative wrongdoing.
Riot police reinforcements were deployed on Saturday near the government headquarters in the capital Amman and other areas where teacher activists were planning protests. Security forces raided the union headquarters in Karak city.
الموضوع ليس موضوع # نقابة_المعلمين بقدر ما هو يدل على سعي الحكومة على تكميم الافوه وسحق كل من يقف أمامه
“ومن كان له اذن فليسمع ، ومن كان له عين فليراه” # مع_كل_حر # مع_المعلم– Mohammed Odeh (@ Mohamme66692607) July 25, 2020
Translation: The problem is not about the teachers union, but about the government’s attempt to silence open voices and crush all who are before it.
The teachers union responded by calling for a demonstration on Wednesday, during which Nawasra urged authorities to honor their promises.
According to the official Petra news agency, Amman’s attorney general Hassan Abdallat called 13 members of the union council to question them on “criminal and corruption charges.”
Petra did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged “crimes,” but quoted Abdallat as saying that they included “financial violations.”
The prosecutor also issued a gag order on investigations into the case, the agency said.
تماتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتتت.
– mutaz alrbehat (@ meezo_86) July 25, 2020
Translation: The arrest of trade unionists is a stain on the government
Political opposition is often marginalized in Jordan, but protests over the erosion of living standards, corruption and the slow pace of political reforms have increased in recent years.
Security forces intervene as protesters demand 50 percent pay rise for teachers in Amman [File: Anadolu]
‘Government smear campaign’
Saturday’s crackdown on the union “would only further aggravate the government’s political tensions at a time when people are drowning in difficult economic conditions,” said Murad Adailah, head of the Islamic Action Front, the largest opposition party. .
The 100,000-person union went on strike last year, closing schools across Jordan for a month in one of the longest and most disruptive public sector strikes in the country’s history. In recent weeks, his leadership has accused the government of failing to comply with an agreement signed last October that ended the strike.
The deal included a 50 percent pay rise this year, which the government now says is unaffordable due to the economic blow from the coronavirus crisis.
انا # مع_نقابة_المعلمين ما عجبهم انه النقابة صار الها شعبية وبتخاف على مصلحة البلد لانهم بخافو ينكشفوا. # نقابة_المعلمين تمثل كافة المجتمع الاردني لذلك بدهم يسكتوا صوت الشعب.
– fadi alsmadi (@fadialsmadi) July 25, 2020
Translation: I am with the teachers’ union … the government did not like the fact that the union was very popular and feared that its shortcomings would be exposed. The union represents Jordanian society, so the government wants to silence the voice of the people.
Some officials have also accused union leaders of harboring the opposition’s political agenda. The union said this accusation is part of a government smear campaign.
Opposition politicians say the government has been using draconian emergency laws enacted last March at the start of the coronavirus blockade to limit civil and political rights. Activists have been arrested in recent weeks for comments on social media.
Jordan relies heavily on foreign aid and has struggled to curb its public debt, which amounts to more than $ 40 billion, while unemployment in the first quarter of 2020 reached 19.3 percent.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
