(MENAFN- Alghad Newspaper)
The government has a right to warn us of not doing what 'we're told. It is also perhaps right to intimidate Jordanians into endorsing the price hikes, now, before it is too late, by warning against putting them off.
The possibility Finance Minister, Omar Malhas, underlined that Jordan may end up in Greece's situation, not long ago, is valid.
It isn't so unlikely that the current Jordanian situation would deliver our economy to the brink of collapse.
Naturally, the Greek have had to endure so much due to their intensified crisis.
Malhas is right to warn us of sustaining the current Tax Law.
He has appoint, when he underscored the injustice of nearly 95 per cent of the Jordanian population not paying income taxes. Regardless of the many other forms of taxation citizens pay to the State, both directly and indirectly.
Truly, the outcomes of not expanding the taxable base can be catastrophic. A new tax law is crucial, to avoid many of the terrible results of not increasing customs, for instance, and other payables on commodities and services.
However, is it not the right of Jordanians to see petty corruption, nepotism, and all other unethical practices within the public sector eradicated?
Is it not the right of the people to see their own government, all of its members included, on the helms of the battle to ride the public sector of corruption? Administrative corruption and bribery has become so widespread that it has become more or less standard procedure in some departments.
If raising prices is inevitable, why isn't the government doing anything about tax evasions, which is estimated to cost the Treasury hundreds of millions?!
How is it not the government's responsibility to address tax evasion before demanding the people to just swallow such ruthless decisions?
Meanwhile, many of the highly paid professionals just get off without paying a single penny.
As it is the government's right to reaffirm that there is no other way to avoid the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it is also its duty to restore the lost wealth of the nation. It is the government's duty to its own people, just as it is so to enforce the law in these regards.
Additionally, it is vital that the political components of the government communicate a political narrative which appeals to the public's interests and cares.
The government must keep the public informed in regards to their present and future, in order to build trust.
Trust, mind you, is missing in today's Jordanian state-citizen relationship, which is why people do not understand the decisions of the government, let alone trust in its wisdom.
It is crucial that the gap between the government and the public is bridged.
Without the public's confidence in the government's vision, and trust in its agenda; politically, economically, and administratively, the people will not accept the government's decisions.
So, before the government decides to push through yet another bundle of decisions, much is needed to convince the public of the feasibility of these decisions.
This is especially true since every government in the last five years has resorted to intimidation in order to scare the public into accepting its decisions.
Needless to say, none of these harsh decisions reflected in tangible results of financial reforms. Not only did the government fail to control public debt, it actually grew despite harsh financial decisions.
Naturally, our advice to the government is: 'You may very well be able to pass these decisions. When you do, it will find like an achievement, but trust me, it isn't.
What the government doesn't understand is the scale of catastrophe which follows such inconsiderate, decisions.
It sounds as though the government doesn't care about the citizen, not even under such straining, difficult conditions. Even though the people have endured one harsh decision after the other, draining many of us dry.
The government really needs to consider the effect of these decisions of the state's relationship with the people.
Much of whatever hope the people have left will be put out, and with this lost hope, the public's anticipation of a better future.
Everything Minister Malhas said is correct, and rightly worrying, but what about the people's rights and the state's duties towards society; does the government ever give it a second thought?!
This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.
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