AMMAN – Jordan’s Islamist opposition, leftists and trade unions on Saturday demanded the ouster of Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit, who they blame for violence that has killed one person and injured 130.
“The Islamist movement demands the resignation, or the sacking, of the government and the formation a national unity and reformist government that would win the people’s trust and protect their lives,”
Hamzah Mansur, chief of the powerful Islamic Action Front (IAF), said. “Any government that kills citizens loses legitimacy,” he told a news conference. Youth movements backed the Islamist call. “We demand the prime minister and intelligence chief (Mohammed Raqqad) quit,” Firas Mahadin of the March 24 youth group told reporters. “We have reached a point of no return.” His father, Muwaffaq Mahadin, a prominent leftist writer, warned “the country is heading towards a civil war and the government is responsible for that because it wants to avoid reforms.”
The rift between Jordan’s government and Islamists widened after the prime minister on Friday accused the main opposition movement of spreading chaos following the death of a protester, the first in the kingdom. “Stop playing with fire… stop hiding your real intentions,” Prime Minister Bakhit told Islamists in an address broadcast on Jordanian television. “We have invited the Muslim Brotherhood for talks, away from protests and demonstrations, but apparently they have an agenda to create chaos in the country,” Bakhit said.
Brotherhood spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr said “by accusing the Muslim Brotherhood, the government is trying to escape its responsibilities” proving his calls for reform and freedom were false. Mansur accused the government of “crimes against humanity.” “The government of Maaruf Bakhit has given proof that it does not believe in the reforms, it is a government with blood on its hands which today has committed crimes against humanity,” he said.
