Jordan - Amman
Activists say they are set to reignite nationwide fuel protests with an Amman rally on Friday as counter-
protesters announced a series of “retaliatory measures”.
In a so-called “popular uprising for reform”, the National Front for Reform (NFR) is scheduled to hold a rally in the commercial district of Jabal Hussein, projected to be the single largest demonstration since the outbreak of protests earlier this month against the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies.
The NFR has stressed that slogans during the march between the Firas and Interior Ministry circles, will be restricted to “regime reform” .
Over 40 political parties, professional associations and protest coalitions are scheduled to join the NFR, an independent coalition of pro-reform parties and activists, headed by former premier and intelligence chief Ahmed Obeidat.
The Muslim Brotherhood has pledged a “strong showing” on Friday, in response to security services’ arrest of some 45 members for their alleged roles in the recent spate of protests that left over 70 people injured and killed one citizen.
Meanwhile, counter-protesters are organising a series of rallies across the capital, with four separate marches planned to the site of the NFR demonstration.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the Youth Coalition for Loyalty and Allegiance announced that it would launch marches from downtown Amman and the east Amman neighbourhood of Jabal Nuzha to converge on Firas Circle in Jabal Hussein.
Under the slogan “Enough Destruction, Enough is Enough,” activists plan to hold a “mass motorcade” of 60 buses carrying counter-protesters from the outlying governorates towards the Interior Ministry Circle to express their “allegiance to His Majesty the King”.
In its statement, the coalition said it would deploy “rapid response teams” if NFR rally participants’ slogans “cross any red line” or call for “the overthrow of the regime”.
The coalition warned that regardless of security procedures, they will mobilise “four teams of 22 persons” each to “respond swiftly from within the march itself” if participants raise any slogans deemed offensive.
Security officials have announced a series of measures to separate the opposing rallies, including closing down all roads leading to the Interior Ministry Circle — a major junction that links Amman with the northern governorates — and establishing buffer zones between the protests.
Meanwhile, independent activists plan to take to the streets in several cities across the country to protest against the decision to lift fuel subsidies.
Under the slogan “Save the Homeland from Rising Prices,” grass-roots popular movements are organising a series of marches in Tafileh, Karak, Maan, Irbid, Aqaba and Salt.
The decision to lift fuel subsidies, which was announced on November 13, led to prices of 90-octane gasoline rising by 15 per cent, diesel and kerosene by 33 per cent and gas cylinders by 53 per cent.
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