Young King Tries to Give Substance to the Image

AMMAN, Jordan —  The economy is still stagnant. Unemployment hangs stubbornly around 20%, by most measures. And the gap between rich and poor is growing.

But seven months since the death of King Hussein left Jordanians uneasy about the future in a nation with daunting domestic problems, many here are encouraged by early signals from Hussein’s son and successor, King Abdullah II.

The young king, who was virtually unknown to Jordanians until Hussein named him crown prince just before his death in February, has dived into an activist, energetic show of leadership that has pleased many in this nation of 4 million.

From unannounced inspections of a troubled government hospital to undercover journeys into Jordan’s free-trade zone and this capital’s chaotic streets, Abdullah, 37, is displaying a willingness to shake things up, using his personal prestige to shine a spotlight on long-festering problems of corruption, bureaucracy and inefficiency.

“People like his style, the level of his activism and the issues he’s addressing,” said Rami Khouri, former editor of the Jordan Times and a prominent political commentator here. “Much of it is symbolic so far, but he seems to have a feel for what people care about.”

Abdullah, who spent his career in the army before ascending the throne, has remained faithful to his father’s legacy of peace with Israel and strong ties to the United States. But he has also signaled early on that he will plot his own course, making domestic and regional issues a priority--for instance, reining in militants who had long been tolerated in Jordan and moving swiftly to strengthen the nation’s relations with its Arab neighbors.

The king’s focus on domestic matters, particularly his backing for a program of economic reform, is in sharp contrast to what critics here saw as his father’s preoccupation with foreign policy toward the end of his reign. And it has won him praise from many Jordanians.

“He is doing much better than I expected, much better than any of us had reason to expect,” political scientist Radwan Abdullah said. “He has remedied the course, responding to the public’s long-standing demands that the government should concentrate on domestic policy and restore ties to the Arab world. He has shown that he’s going to be his own man.”

Not all is rosy, of course, nor is everyone happy. Islamic opposition leaders, for instance, are upset about the government’s recent crackdown on the militant Islamic movement Hamas, which King Hussein had allowed to operate here, in limited fashion, since 1991.

Now, though, in actions some Jordanians consider the boldest yet by the young king, Hamas offices have been closed and several of its top officials expelled from the kingdom or detained on charges of membership in an illegal organization. The movement, and its allies in Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, have protested, claiming that the arrests and closures were the result of pressure from the United States and Israel. But the Hamas leaders, for now, remain behind bars.

Other Jordanians, impatient for change, are urging faster, more muscular moves to reform the economy and accelerate the kingdom’s slow pace toward democratization.

“All this is very refreshing, but at the end of the day, people still need to eat, to work, to buy medicine, to know that our water and economic problems are being solved and many other things,” political scientist Labib Kamhawi said. “We need drastic action.”

A resource-poor desert kingdom, Jordan is burdened by a staggering $7-billion debt, mostly to Western creditors; debt service now consumes 28% of its budget. Its annual growth rate is an anemic 1%, far outpaced by a 3.7% population growth rate. Economists say the average standard of living has slipped below the level of 20 years ago, and diplomats worry about a rising tide of social discontent.

On a visit to the United States and Europe in May, the king made little progress toward persuading Western governments to ease Jordan’s debt burden, despite his announcement that he hoped to convince them to write off fully 50% of the nation’s obligations.

Financial help from the Arab world, which was promised in the emotional aftermath of Hussein’s death, also has been slow to arrive, government officials said. Only the United Arab Emirates has thus far come through, providing a $100-million deposit into Jordan’s central bank to shore up reserves.

But Abdullah’s early visits to a host of Arab countries, from Saudi Arabia to Syria, may be paying off in other ways.

For the first time since Jordan angered Persian Gulf countries by siding with Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, many are now reopening their labor markets to Jordanian workers, Information Minister Nasser Lawzi said recently. “Thousands of workers are already under contract in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf,” Lawzi said.

The king also called parliament into emergency session this summer and set a predominantly economic agenda for it. Laws aimed at improving Jordan’s investment climate, covering trademarks, copyrights and patents, already have been passed, with others pending.

The economic moves, while limited so far, have been praised by businesspeople, diplomats and commentators alike.

“All the changes Jordan needs cannot happen overnight,” said Fahed Fanek, a widely read economics columnist for several Jordanian newspapers, including the Jordan Times. “These economic measures are not revolutionary, but they are very important. They are the beginnings of what Jordan needs.”

It was the king’s recent undercover missions, however, that attracted the most positive attention from the Jordanian media and public.

Wearing disguises that ranged from old clothes to Arab robes, the king sallied forth to inspect the free-trade zone, where investors frequently complain about an inefficient bureaucracy, and to watch life, through a taxi window, on Amman’s busy roads.

Earlier, without disguises, he made repeated snap visits to a government hospital, reportedly inquiring each time about a broken elevator.

Jordanians were gleeful, delighting in newspaper accounts here of the discomfiture of the trade zone’s bureaucrats when the king pulled off his disguise to reveal his identity.

But some said they worry that the king, encouraged by the positive reaction, might believe that Jordan, as in the early days of his father, can still be run on the strength of personality of its ruler.

“What we have seen from him so far is clearly a high measure of goodwill, a lot of energy and a great desire to succeed,” political scientist Kamhawi said. “But we all know the era of running Jordan as a one-man show has got to be over.”

Commentator Khouri said the king’s personal inspections gave him pause as well, even as he acknowledged that the episodes had delighted many Jordanians, including his college-age son.

Khouri said he believes that the king, so newly enthroned, is still in the process of exploring his role, even as he tries to step out from the giant shadow of his father, who spent 47 years on the throne.

“He’s still grappling with what his role should be, and with what exactly is the role of the monarchy in the government,” Khouri said. “Should he really be inspecting elevators? Or would that be better done by the ministries? I think he’s still trying to figure it out.”