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Jordan: Jordanians Say “Thank You!” to Monarchy

Posted 18 May 2012 15:40 GMT 1 · Written by Ali Alhasani

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Jordan, Citizen Media, Politics, Protest

Jordanian Twitter users have been using the hashtag #شكرا ^[1], or “thank you”, to tweet sarcastically about what the Jordanian monarchy has done for the country.

The tweets are a reaction to the slowness of the ongoing reform process in Jordan.

While King Abdullah has acknowledged the need for reform in Jordan, he has been criticised ^[2] for not establishing a timetable for the introduction of governments based on a parliamentary majority. He recently appointed a new government ^[3], but it is seen as too conservative and MPs have complained of “elusiveness” in introducing real reforms.

^[4]

Mahmoud Homsi started the hashtag by tweeting:

@Mahmoudhomsi: ^[5] #شكرا‬‏ على الاستقلال الاقتصادي

Thank you for economic independence

Monther Hassouneh added:

‫@mhassouneh: ^[6]#شكرا‬‏ على محاربة الفقر

Thank you for fighting poverty

Nabil Barqawi wrote:

@Bani_2adam: ^[7]#شكرا‬‏ على بيع كل ما يمكن بيعه

Thank you for selling whatever can be sold

Hadeel Maaitah tweeted:

@girl_brainy: ^[8]‫#شكرا‬‏ على إختصار وجودنا بلقمة العيش

Thank you for reducing our existence to [chasing after] bread to eat

Saif Abuhazeem said:

@Saif_Abuhazeem: ^[9]#شكرا‬‏ لالي حكا ماضون بالاصلاح وبعدنا ما شفنا اشي

Thank you to those who said, “We're going ahead with reforms”, while we still haven't seen anything

Mohammad Ziad wrote:

@mohaziad: ^[10]#شكرا‬‏ لجهاز الدرك العام على جهوده في قمع المطالبين بالإصلاح

Thank you for the existence of the police who suppress those who ask for reform

Anas Elayyan said:

‏@AnasElayyan ^[11] ‫#شكرا‬‏ لمجلس النواب انهم بدهم رواتب مدى الحياة و الناس ما معها تآكل

Thank you for the parliament whose members want salaries for life while people don't have food to eat