Jordan News

Illustrated by: Nasser Al-Jaafari – Written by: Muhammad Al-Rantisi

It is no secret to those who follow the ascent of the Mayor of Amman, Yousef Al Shawarbeh, that he is in front of a man full of energy and will and very intelligent in managing his life, especially at the professional level, because “Abu Firas” is considered among those who carried their competence on their shoulders in the story of ascension, not those who descended with Parachute or hereditary.

Although Shawarba, born on August 9, 1968, took a ministerial position (the portfolio of political and parliamentary affairs) in the government of Abdullah Ensour in 2016, that position, which lasted only 42 days, and in what observers describe as “faint”, is not the same. What does “Ibn Al-Amanah”, who is haunted by its details and who knows its inner affairs, live since he was elected as a member of its council on behalf of the Tariq region in 2003, and that was a foothold for his dream of assuming the position of “mayor”.

This actually happened, and the dream became a reality. Shawarbeh became Amman’s thirty-eighth mayor in August 2017, after a long series of positions he held in the secretariat, in which he proved to decision-makers that he is the most worthy of the position, despite the many eyes on him, i.e. the position, and here it is worth noting. He failed in the 2007 secretariat council elections, but he came back stronger and more insistent on his ambitions.

Returning to the Shawarbeh in the Nisour government, it is worth noting that “Abu Firas” was among those accused, by virtue of his ministerial position, of refusing to license the Jordanian Civil Gathering Party, when it was said at the time that the reason was that those who applied for the license were “black people,” which he denied. Shawarba after widespread controversy erupted in the media and social media platforms.

Abu Firas, who belongs to one of Amman’s oldest clans, the Da’ja, holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Al-Ahliyya Amman University in 1995, and a high diploma from the Faculty of Law at Al-Hikma University in 2006, before obtaining a master’s degree in law from Al-Neelain University in 2009, then a PhD in constitutional law in 2015.

Al-Shawarbeh faced one of the most controversial and complex projects that the Kingdom witnessed in the modern era, the express bus project, and the project was in danger of stopping its completion due to mismanagement and suspicions of corruption, or completing it despite all the challenges and its sensitivity, so the new secretary sided with completing it with the least damage, hoping that The result will be satisfactory and achieve the possible public benefit, and the project, after the recent launch of the first phase of it, is still a headache not only for the Secretary, but also for the state, in the context of an 11-year-old series, and no one knows when its last episodes will be, and whether they will actually be happy sad mother.

Away from the “Spiral Bus Express”, there are major and important files assigned to the Shawarbeh and they are followed up at the highest levels. They are the real test that determines whether he will continue in his position or be ousted. It is the file of electronic transformation in the secretariat services, which is praised by specialists, and the investment file Observers see that the partnership with the “Oman Vision” company is one of the most vital axes of this file, as well as the file of the secretariat’s law, so that the Amman Municipality becomes for the first time its own law, which, by the way, is presented to the special session of deputies.

Mentioning the secretariat law, Al-Shawarbeh faces a sharp attack by members of the council, who accuse him of “tailoring” this law to his size and serving his personal interests, foremost of which is the secretary’s pension.

Among the other important and complex files, is the file of Barakat Pepsi, which former Prime Minister Omar Razzaz in 2018, entrusted the task of completing it to the Shawarbeh. It has been there for nearly 30 years, and dozens of people drowned because of it.

The man’s lovers inside and outside the trust deny this accusation, and consider that he is one of the most zealous of public money, and that he has never been suspected of corruption of any kind, and that he is very strict in controlling and spending expenditures with care and accuracy.

One of them added “from poetry to verse,” when he said that Shawarbeh is “disciplined by nature, and his work day starts from 7 in the morning until midnight, and you may encounter it during the day in more than one workspace in separate areas of Amman.”

He added, “Al-Shawarbeh is known for not being close to anyone except for someone who performs and presents an elaborate work, and that in the work he is the son of Oman, not a specific region or clan, and he always tries to limit the impact of the administrative laxity that has accumulated in the secretariat for decades, and he also follows the open door policy. Appointments are very respectful.”

According to those close to his work, Abu Firas is very disturbed by the occurrence of abuses due to the misconduct of the Secretariat’s employees, such as what happened with the owners of the stalls and the vegetable cart incident in the central market and the like, and he deals with it resolutely to ensure that it does not happen again. As Amin, it is considered a ghost that chases him and may overthrow him if something similar happened and there was no choice at the time to calm public opinion but “Ras Al-Shawarbeh”, so the Secretary’s reaction is very peaceful, understanding and absorbing anger, and he comes out apologizing, denouncing and sympathetic to the victim as much as necessary if he arrived Limit to “smack”.

The Shawarbeh, according to what has been reported, means highlighting an advanced civilized face of Oman at various levels, and thus relies on a specialized team in all relevant aspects, and does not accept that its image or the image of the trust be shaken by mistakes here or there.

But the task is not easy and requires a long breath, fatigue, patience, will and intelligence, and while some believe that “Abu Firas” is worthy of all that, others believe that the matter is greater than “the honest person”, whether it is a mustache or other, and that it is linked to policies, capabilities, complexities and distortions, that transcend The capital limits to the entire country.

Al-Shawarbeh graduated and ascended to Al-Systam, “Wathiq Al-Khatwa walking as a king.” He has a hundred eyes, half of which is on the field and what he can accomplish, and the other half is on his future in the state, and he is her aspiring son now, undoubtedly, far beyond honesty and its troubles.