Nermeen Murad

Barack Obama won the US presidential elections, opening the gates for commentators the world over to speak of renewed hope.

The ordinary people who wept as they listened to his speech cried either because they worked hard to elect this promise for change or because they have no hope for change in their political systems or their economic and social situation.

In Jordan, many of us cried for the Palestinians who were once described as the Red Indians of the Middle East and who have lost hope of gaining enough commitment from the world to press for a resolution of their problem.

We also cried because elections in our country have repeatedly failed to represent the people or their needs. In fact, since the reintroduction of democratic elections in the Kingdom, we have systematically elected less and less competent representatives to the Lower House of Parliament.

We are not only shackled by an elections law, tailored to give majority to urban areas that propagate personal gain at the expense of national gain, we also suffer from the political immaturity that naturally comes after decades of lack of democracy and political debate.

We didn’t learn to question the promises of candidates or politicians. We shy away from controversial demands lest we should appear needy or pushy, or display any of those controversial social stigmas that are rejected in our proud culture. We insisted and continue to insist that our children should not challenge us, thereby denying them the chance to learn and develop critical thinking and forcing them, instead, to conform and fit into existing boxes.

The result is that we, as a nation, fall for empty slogans that are not supported by strategies, work plans or even goodwill, be they religious banners that promise that they are the “solution” (but decades later have yet to deliver on any of their promises), or leftists’ demands for social equality that add up to nothing but repetition of failed theories of equity among social classes without a provision for recognising talent or hard work.

Both extremes of political doctrines work our masses to a frenzy every four years, only to serve their candidates for national elections, then they leave the people to swallow their disappointment alone.

We also believe highfaluting former officials who promise to use their accumulated clout to our service, but manage only to hold on to their senior positions of representation, thereby advancing only their own business and the business of their offspring.

All these elements, as well as the slow integration of competitive job-selection methodologies that would guarantee the advancement of hard workers in the professional sector, have contributed to the general mood of despair and lack of faith in the system.

When I first became a journalist two decades ago, my then editor asked me to investigate whether we, Jordanians, are a gloomy people. Back then, people were still living the after-effects of the loss of Palestine and blaming regional political paralysis for our collective depressed national mood.

Now that I am older and wiser I know that lack of hope comes not only from the lack of opportunity - political, social or financial - but, more importantly, from the inability to effect change or influence the circumstances of our lives.

We wish the Americans the best for their “national wedding” and hope that ours, in three or four years’ time, will begin to give back hope to our people.

NermeenMurad@gmail.com