Jordanians demanding democratic reforms protested in the capital after Friday’s prayers, defying an edict by the kingdom’s religious leaders not to demonstrate. Chanting “We want to change the constitution,” about 150 students, independents and leftists marched in front of the Al-Husseini Mosque and held banners reading, “Democracy is action, not just a word.” The demonstrations inspired by uprisings across the Middle East have so far not threatened the monarchy but are calling for King Abdallah to relinquish some of his sweeping powers.
The demonstrators are calling for the popular election of the prime minister and other reforms inspired by the Tunisia and Egypt uprisings. Smaller demonstrations were also reported in four other cities nationwide calling for mainly for economic reforms.
Jordan’s top Muslim leader, the Grand Mufti, and six other religious scholars had earlier issued a fatwa instructing Jordanians not to take part in protests while the government and political parties work on a reform dialogue. The fatwa, however, did not put off protesters in Amman such as student Walid Laham, 22. He scoffed at the nonbinding edict, saying it merely “reflected government views of appointed officials” rather than the will of the people. He called it “another strategy” by the government to stop the protests and delay reforms.