The Youth and The State: Is there a serious new political horizon in Jordan?

The Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System in Jordan is set to complete its work and pass up its outputs to King Abdullah II. It took nearly three months after its formation to complete the task of submitting proposals to amend laws and constitutional texts governing the political process, such as electoral, parties, and local administration laws, as well as what is related to Increasing the participation of women and youth in parliamentary and partisan life.

For the youth, the current committee marks an unprecedented qualitative leap in official discourse toward acknowledging the need to bridge the gap between the young generation and decision-making institutions, and to provide opportunities for them to join the political game; since it is the first time that official discourse shifts towards youth from being limited to economic problems and challenges, as has occurred in recent years, or sports, as has previously been the case in official discourse. The importance of youth involvement in both partisan and parliamentary work was clearly stated in the royal assignment letter to the committee’s chairman (former Prime Minister Samir Al-Rifai), indicating a significant change in official institutions’ awareness of the importance of youth engagement in both political and partisan activities.

Not only that, but a group of young people involved in public work were chosen to serve in the Royal Committee (approximately 10 percent of its members). In addition, a subcommittee on the political empowerment of youth was created, with the aim of developing perspectives for how to integrate young people into political and partisan life on two levels: key legislations and policies (constitutional amendments, election and party laws, and recommendations related to local administration), the other, and the white paper, which deals with proposals for removing traditional barriers to young people’s participation in public work, such as legislation and policies, as well as working to stimulate the appropriate environment for this new transformation, beginning with school curricula and activities related to developing students’ knowledge of civic and democratic culture and progressing through universities; opening the door wide to developing students’ skills and abilities, as well as party and political activity at universities, up to the point of joining political parties, and public service for the youth elite who wish it.

On the legislative level, the Youth sub-Committee produced significant proposals that were initially adopted by other committees. On the level of election law and constitutional amendments, the proposal to lower the candidacy age to 25 years was accepted, with the condition that a young candidate be included among the first five candidates on the closed national proportional list. Furthermore, proposals for financial and administrative aid are being considered in order to encourage them to run in parliamentary and local elections (municipal and local administration elections). The proposed parties law also included texts that encourage young people to join parties, such as requiring a certain percentage of young people to be party founders, linking government financial support to the percentage of youth representation in leadership bodies and electoral lists, and temporarily setting the term of the party presidency and executive offices to allow youth to access leadership positions and to reinforce the principle of power rotation within the parties themselves.

Furthermore, the Youth and Constitutional Amendments Committees are deliberating on a proposal to add a constitutional text relating to the role of youth in public life, as well as ensuring the state’s role in the empowerment and development of their talents and capacities in this respect. The new text seeks to “constitutionalize” the role of youth in public life and solidify the new conviction of its importance through a clear political and symbolic message that political and partisan work is not a dangerous affair that discourages the young generation from approaching it, as was previously the case. It also intends to highlight the state’s sincerity in achieving this qualitative transformation in terms of the connection with youth, the emergence of a youth elite in decision-making positions, as well as the establishment of party life through the involvement of youth in political parties.

Despite this, there are legitimate doubts and concerns among a substantial proportion of young people about engaging in political parties or establishing programmatic parties dealing with youth problems and issues on the day after the Royal Commission’s recommendations and result see light. The source of this anticipated reluctance is the prevailing traditional culture, which warns against the consequences of partisan work and the fear of the consequences at the personal and professional levels for young people, as well as the presence of fears that the state will back down from the “new plan,” or the lack of seriousness of state institutions or their disapproval of this qualitative transformation.

The Royal Committee’s desired outcome (linked to a clear royal letter that includes a gradual transition to a programmatic partisan parliament and parliamentary majority governments in approximately 11 years) is based on a central premise, which is the transformation of the party scene within three years (until the parliamentary elections in 2024), in order for the parties to be more representative of social forces and segments (it may reach 41 seats, about 30 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives in the proposed law).

The irony is that the next stage of the Royal Committee will be the true test of how far young people can make a difference in political life by altering the reality of political parties on the one hand, and shattering that stereotype about young people and their political eligibility on the other. As a result, decision-makers think that the next three years will be the true test of the strategy to transfer the state and political and partisan activity from the present traditional method to new foundations based on partisan and political agendas, which restructure the process of forming governments and legislatures, and bridges the accumulated divide between the street and state institutions.
Can young people truly make a difference in this massive transformation? Of course, the answer is yes, but only if the state sends clear and explicit messages and creates a road map that pushes all of us in the same direction, which is the required transition, and if there is no inaction or conflicting messages from the various state institutions, because this will signal to the young generation that the road to engagement is still blocked for the engagement in actual political and partisan work.