Jordanians more negative than regional neighbours on economic situation

AMMAN — A striking 76 per cent of Jordanians hold negative views on the general economic status of their country, according to the sixth Arab Opinion Index report issued by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies on Thursday. 

However, the citizens' perception of the Kingdom's political situation appeared slightly more positive, with 63 per cent of the surveyed population showing a positive attitude towards it. 

Launched in Jordan by the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan, the Arab Opinion Index is based on a total of 18,830 individual respondents across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.

Regionally, the Kingdom ranked below its neighbours in attitudes towards the economic status in their homes, with 59 per cent of the total surveyed expressing a negative opinion compared to 76 per cent of Jordanians. However, it was one of the top countries in the Arab world when it came to confidence in the political situation, ranking third below Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 

Musa Shteiwi, head of the CSS, highlighted that the Arab Opinion Index remains “the largest known report on public attitudes throughout the Arab region”.

"Unlike other similar surveys of public opinion on a comparable scale, the Arab Opinion Index is firmly rooted in the region and is based on the priorities of the Arab societies it studies.”

Topics covered by the survey questions include attitudes to prevailing economic, societal and political conditions in respondents’ home countries; attitudes towards religion, religiosity, and their proper role in public and political life; and public sentiments and attitudes towards inter-Arab cooperation.

Regarding public attitudes towards democracy, almost half of Jordanians (48 per cent) appeared to believe that the democratic system is represented in the preservation of civil or public liberties, followed by an equal justice for all citizens (16 per cent) and a democratic system of government (14 per cent). 

Concerning views on religiosity in the public sphere and political life, a significant 73 per cent of the surveyed in Jordan agreed with the statement that “no religious authority is entitled to declare followers of other religions to be infidel”. 

But the topic in which most Jordanians showed consensus was the Palestinian issue, with 90 per cent of the population approving the idea that “the Palestinian cause concerns all Arabs and not the Palestinian people alone”.

Jordanians' commitment to the Palestinian cause was in line with the regional views on Israel, as an overwhelming 87 per cent of Arabs disapproved the recognition of Israel by their countries, and only 8 per cent accepted formal diplomatic recognition. 

“In fact, one half of those who accepted recognition of Israel by their governments made such recognition conditional on the formation of an independent Palestinian state,” Shteiwi remarked, noting that “when asked to elaborate on the reasons for their positions, respondents who were opposed to diplomatic ties between their countries and Israel focused on a number of factors, such as Israeli racism towards the Palestinians”.