Not the way to do it

Former chairman of Royal Jordanian’s board of directors Suleiman Hafez was asked by Saraya News about his opinion regarding the controversy surrounding the decision, taken by the board while he was chairman, to give the former prime minister and his family free tickets for life.

Hafez reportedly answered with a question — “Why was such an illegal decision taken?” — adding that every member of the board agreed to the decision, and not he alone, an excuse that is worse than admission of guilt.

The decision sparked an angry backlash among Jordanians who view it as illegal and an abuse of authority on the part of RJ’s board of directors, and because benefiting from the decision was a person who used to constantly talk about transparency, the need to save public money and fighting corruption.

Hafez must have approved the decision, and, therefore, carries double responsibility. One, for giving his approval as chairman of the board, which he was at the time, the second, for not protesting the decision or voicing any kind of reservation.

He also said “the company is not my father’s”, although had it been his father’s, he would not have approved such decision.

The money squandered belongs to RJ shareholders, not to Hafez, to the board members or to their immediate family.

Worse, the current board of directors, which is the same that gave those illegal privileges to the former premier, announced that the decision will be revoked starting with December 31, 2016, when it should have cancelled immediately the decision granting such illegal privileges.

It would have been great to see Hafez admit his mistake and apologise to shareholders and taxpayers, especially since the Jordanian government is the biggest shareholder in the only national carrier.

Instead, he tries to distract people’s attention from the tickets issue by pointing to other problems plaguing RJ, which is totally unacceptable.

The issue will not be forgotten until those who messed up and squandered RJ’s money are held accountable for their mistake.

At the same time, one hopes that Prime Minister Hani Mulki will set things straight at RJ, restore its legal and moral status, and come up with an urgent plan to rescue the national carrier before it is too late.

The writer is a Jordanian economist and investor. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.