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JORDAN-ECONOMY-DEMONSTRATION
Protesters defiant as Jordanians strike over tax bill
AMMAN, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Doctors, lawyers and teachers staged a
strike across Jordan on Wednesday in protest over IMF-backed austerity
measures including a proposed income tax law that have sparked a week of
angry demonstrations.
Lawyers in black robes were among more than 1,000 protesters who gathered
outside the headquarters of the country’s trade union federation in the
capital Amman to demand the government drop the reforms.
Some demonstrators waved Jordanian flags or carried placards reading “I’m
afraid for my future” while others held up loaves of flatbread with
“corruption = hunger” written on them.
Later, some 2,000 demonstrators gathered in the capital for a fresh
protest.
Scuffles took place between police forces, mobilised in large numbers, and
demonstrators who tried to repel them, according to an AFP reporter on the
scene.
The official Petra news agency said a policeman was stabbed and is in
critical condition.
After a week of rallies against reforms backed by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), there were few signs that public anger was abating,
despite Prime Minister Hani Mulki stepping down and King Abdullah II calling
for a full review of the proposed tax law.
If passed, the bill would raise taxes on employees by at least five
percent and on companies by between 20 and 40 percent.
A majority of deputies have said they will vote against it, but protesters
have staged repeated night-time demonstrations after breaking the Ramadan
fast to demand the bill be withdrawn altogether.
Tarek, a 45-year-old lawyer, said the law would imperil “what remains of
the middle class”.
“This bill is a disaster,” he said.
Linda, a 35-year-old English teacher at a private school, said it was the
first time in her life that she had attended a protest.
Ali al-Abous, head of Jordan’s doctors’ union and trade union federation,
told AFP that the strike aimed “to send a message to the new government (to)
drop the income tax draft law and hold a national dialogue on it.”
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JORDAN-ECONOMY-DEMONSTRATION 2 LAST AMMAN
– ‘National dialogue’ –
Addressing a crowd later Wednesday, Abous said unions had “decided to give
the government a chance to hold a national dialogue” on the law, but booing
protesters prevented him from finishing his speech.
“That’s unacceptable; we shouldn’t talk to the government until the bill
is withdrawn,” said Saad, 27, a pharmacy student, prompting shouts of
agreement.
Other protesters accused the unions of selling out their cause.
Abous later clarified on television that the unions’ main demand — to see
the bill withdrawn — had not changed but that the government should be given
time to respond.
For his part, Jordan’s newly named Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz tweeted
to pledge “dialogue with the different parties and to work with them” towards
“a tax system that is fair to everybody”.
The tax bill, yet to be approved by parliament, was the latest in a series
of austerity measures since Amman secured a $723-million loan from the IMF in
2016.
Since January, resources-poor Jordan, which suffers from high unemployment
and poverty, has seen repeated price rises including for staples such as
bread, as well as extra taxes on basic goods.
Fuel prices have risen five times since the start of the year, while
electricity bills have surged by 55 percent since February.
The measures have sparked some of the biggest economic protests in five
years.
Demonstrators gathered in Amman overnight after breaking their Ramadan
fast, jostling with police and waving Jordanian flags.
In a letter charging Razzaz with forming a new government on Monday, King
Abdullah II said it “must carry out a comprehensive review of the tax system”
to avoid “unjust taxes that do not achieve justice and balance between the
incomes of the poor and the rich”.
Late Monday, the king had warned Jordan was “at a crossroads”, blaming the
economic woes on regional instability, the burden of hosting hundreds of
thousands of Syrian refugees and a lack of international support.
BSS/AFP/HR/0930