Jordan's parliament turns on corruption in what many say is merely an internal political power struggle, Oula Farawati reports from Amman Chief Commissioner Hosni Abu Ghaida of Aqaba's Special Economic Zone Authority has become the talk of Jordan's public, media and political salons. The progressive former minister of public works was said to have favoured his wife's business in securing a contract in Aqaba, Jordan's first free economic zone established in 2002. Last week, Prime Minister Nader Dahabi decided to terminate a contract with the Amman Bureau for Engineering Consultations, owned by Abu Ghaida's wife. The Amman- based firm had competed for a tender to design and supervise the development of the industrial estate in Aqaba. Abu Ghaida has refuted the corruption allegation as untrue, expressing shock at the campaign waged against him without evidence. "It does not make any sense that a man in my position would risk his reputation for a mere 40,000 Jordanian dinars," Abu Ghaida said in press remarks. Aqaba's special economic zone law prohibits officials or their families from having commercial interests with any entity. But Abu Ghaida said US firm PBI, responsible for the development of the project, awarded his wife's company the contract, not the Special Economic Zone Authority. Regardless, Jordan's parliament decided to form a special committee to investigate the case and provide it with a report that will determine subsequent action against Abu Ghaida. Despite the fact that Abu Ghaida's actions were legally sound, according to officials, analysts have said he should have refused the tender. "There is a fine line separating power and trade which should be emphasised to maintain credibility and legitimacy," political analyst Mohamed Abu Rumman said. Meanwhile, Royal Court Chief Bassem Awadallah is said to be involved in a company currently being sued for human trafficking. American giant Kellogg, Brown and Root, Inc (KBR) has been allegedly trafficking Nepalian nationals into Iraq. Awadallah is partner in a local company affiliated with KBR. No word on this specific case has come from the government so far, but MP Nariman Rousan asked parliament to also investigate Awadallah's involvement because it "taints the reputation of Jordan", Rousan was quoted by Saraya News as saying. The timing of announcing the case to the public, the leakage of documents to Al-Arab Al-Yom daily, and the swift response by Prime Minister Nader Dahabi has served to bolster rumours of political intrigue. Analyst Abu Rumman believes the case to be part of a power struggle between two major groups in Jordan: liberals, represented by Awadallah and Jordanian officials of Palestinian origin, and traditional governmental figures, represented by the prime minister and the state's institutions, run almost entirely by Jordanians of Jordanian origin. Liberals led by Awadallah have been running the economic show, propelling Jordan towards liberalisation, privatisation and the sale of key government assets. Traditional government figures feel that this group has been taking over their powers and undermining their political and economic programme. Political analyst Jamal Tahat said Abu Ghaida was a "rising star" that belonged to the liberals. "It is in the interest of so many figures to stop the rise of Abu Ghaida and use his mistake to attack his group," he said. Tahat believes that "the problem of this group is the fact that it does not belong to a social bloc." A shortcoming of the liberal group is its belief that it can pursue liberalisation policies without social inclusion, Tahat adds. "Every political group needs social backing to cover their activities and back up their actions," he said. How the struggle between the liberals and their traditional opponents will be resolved is hard to answer. Abu Rumman believes King Abdullah "will not favour any party and will not accept that any emerges as a winner at the expense of the other". The fate of Abu Ghaida will surely test that theory.
