The challenges of the will of change

The most popular slogans in today’s elections in Jordan are the slogans of change, particularly the slogans of the Arab Spring calling for a modern civil state, social justice and national dignity as well as human equality. But the majority of those raising these slogans are not serious about progress for a number of reasons. Most notably, they are not the real initiators of change in Jordanian society. On the contrary, they are taking advantage of the popular current. Change will not be achieved by slogans. It will be achieved through a framework built on political, economic and social issues. This responsibility lies on everybody’s shoulders: voter, candidate, politician, decision-maker. Influential decision-makers are still ignoring the necessity of change, resisting it so that in the past two years no real progress has occurred and economic and living conditions have deteriorated to a miserable degree. The four constants set by the head of the state impose many obligations on the forces opposed to change currently dominating decision-making centres. They have no option other than to take aside and harmonise these constants. They do not have the option to add a spoke to the wheel of change. As for the political forces, the elections are an opportunity to test their agendas, discussing them with the people and developing them to meet the needs of everyone. This means that the political forces who decided to boycott the elections will miss this opportunity for to communicate directly with the electorate. Candidates and national lists should be aware that the will of change means considering the people in their efforts, hopes and aspirations; enhancing communication with all segments of society through direct dialogue and criticism. Finally the voters, the balancing force in the next phase, should avoid the negative mood which has surrounded Jordanian society following the decision to remove subsidies on fuel as well as the approval of the electoral law and the declining momentum of political and economic reforms. The process of change will only be achieved by participation in this election, through discussion and debate between candidates and active participation with the ballot box - to discover who will truly represent us, the Jordanian people. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.