Silence surrounds the demotion of Prince Hassan as the Jordanian media fails to challenge the Hashemite monarchy's taste for secrecy, reports Suha Ma'ayeh Jordanians were caught by surprise this week by King Abdullah's unexpected decision to strip Crown Prince Hamzah of his title, thus depriving his half-brother of the ceremonial post he had occupied for the last five years. Following Sunday's move, announced in a letter read out on government television, papers were banned from writing articles which went beyond the official palace statement, and from running editorials on the subject. This is the second surprise succession switch in the royal family in five years. Analysts, politicians and diplomats said that the King has acted within his rights in accordance with a constitutional amendment of 1964, whereby the King has the authority to assign the post either to his eldest son, or to one of his four male brothers by three different mothers, all wives of the late King Hussein. Mohammad Al-Momani, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Yarmouk University, told Al-Ahram Weekly, "I do not think that the move has any political impact, because the post of Crown Prince is ceremonial, in line with the late King Hussein's wishes. It also does not imply any shift of political power, and its significance should not be over estimated." Prince Hamzah, 24, has maintained a low profile ever since he was appointed by the King at the age of 18. He has spent much of the past five years completing his post-graduate studies at Harvard University, after graduating from Britain's Sandhurst military academy. But his wedding in September still made headlines in newspapers and magazines. The text of the royal message stated that the king had decided to exempt his brother from his responsibility as a crown prince "so as to give him more time and greater freedom of movement." Officials do not expect that the sudden change will affect family ties, or weaken the stability of the Jordanian Kingdom which was established under Hashemite rule in 1946. Official spokeswoman Asma Khader said in her weekly press conference Monday that she believes "any analysis, any conclusions or impressions" would constitute meddling in matters that concern "one family", stressing that the royal message was clear and that there was no need for further comment. She reiterated that the move was taken with "a positive attitude." However, there is a precedent for Abdullah's decision. The late King Hussein himself stripped the same title from his brother Prince Hassan in a stern address to the prince broadcast on official TV only days before his death. Hassan had been heir apparent for 36 years. King Hussein accused him of attempting to take power while he had been receiving cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the US. Despite ongoing political uncertainty in neighbouring Iraq and the occupied territories, some analysts questioned the timing of the move. Others were critical of what they termed a "backward" communications strategy in dealing with the young prince, who was known as the favourite son of the late king, and is a carbon copy of his father's looks. Some say the news came as a deep disappointment to queen Noor, prince Hamzah's American-born mother ( née Liza Halaby), who is said to have lobbied for her son as a future king until King Hussein's last days. Mustafa Hamarneh, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, and chairman of the board of directors of Jordan's state-run Television and Radio, said that the move was understandable, and that it had to be done, "the sooner, the better." But US-educated Hamarneh also added that the whole issue could have been presented "in a clearer manner," instead of simply contacting the local media and asking them to downplay the move, even as Jordanians were picking up fuller information and analysis from foreign satellite stations. Analyst Yasser Abu Hilaleh who heads the Amman bureau of the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel said the change does not carry any political implications, and Hamzah himself has never given an interview or issued a political statement that showed any differences in perspective between him and the king. Hilaleh said the Jordanian media had missed an opportunity to educate the public about the Jordanian constitution and the King's constitutional powers. "This shows that the media is afraid to tackle such issues," Hilaleh told the Weekly. "Jordan's TV should have run a profile on Prince Hamzah, and another on the next crown prince, so that the Jordanians would have welcomed the change." The position of crown prince is being kept vacant, but King Abdullah is widely expected to appoint his own son, Hussein, now aged 10, once he has grown to an age that makes that feasible.
