The Compass – A leak of official government papers related to the contract to purchase the services of Mazen Kawar, the current director of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts, sparked a lot of controversy.

Activists on social media reported leaked original documents showing that the former Minister of Culture, Ali Al-Ayed, decided to purchase the services of Mazen Kawar, as the Executive Director of the Jerash Festival for one Gregorian year, to be renewed with the consent of both parties, as of September 27, 2021, with a total monthly salary of 2500 dinars (what Approximately $3550 USD).

This follows the decision to dismiss Ayman Samawi, the former director of the festival during its meeting, after the mass stampede during the artist George Wassouf’s concert within the activities of its thirty-fifth session, which led to the breaking of the precautionary measures to confront the Corona pandemic.

It was remarkable that Kawar sent an official letter to the Social Security Corporation on November 8, 2021, requesting that he be included in the register of practicing workers and that his salary be calculated within the civil retirement calculation, but he increased the amount of 250 Jordanian dinars (less than $400), without explaining the mechanism of this increase. Especially since the contract for the purchase of his services to run the festival clarifies that he does not receive bonuses or increases other than his monthly salary.

Qawar is unknown in the artistic and cultural scene in Jordan, and for two years has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the King Abdullah II Center for Design and Development “KADby”.

In this regard, the media spokesperson for the Social Security Corporation, Shaman Al-Majali, said, “The inclusion of the Executive Director of the Jerash Festival with the provisions of the Security Law was made for a fee of only 2,500 dinars. As for the letter sent by the festival director himself to the guarantee for a fee of (2750) dinars, it has not been taken into account until this time, and will be subject to verification of what the increase of (250) dinars is over what was stated in the agreement to purchase the services mentioned, and whether this increase applies to the conditions and the criteria for the elements of remuneration that fall within the concept of the gross remuneration subject to withholding security or not.

Al-Majali deplored one of the clauses of the aforementioned services purchase agreement, signed between Kawar and the Higher Committee of Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, which states that the “rewards” paid to the contracting party to purchase its services in accordance with the regulations in force, bearing in mind that contracts to purchase the services of hundreds of employees are not It includes, in relation to salaries and wages, only the wage, bonus or salary, inclusive of all bonuses.

In turn, the legal, Musa Al-Subaihi, an expert in insurance and social protection and involved in the laws of the Social Security Institution, commented on the difference between the festival director’s salary and his letter sent to Social Security, saying: “It was actually proven that he only received two thousand five hundred dinars per month, because he had He gave incorrect information to the insurance institution, and thus he may have exposed the facility in which he works to the “Jerash Festival” and exposed himself to financial penalties stipulated in the Security Law, including what was stipulated in paragraph (c) of Article (22) which obligated the facility that did not pay contributions to The basis of real wages is an increase or decrease by paying a fine of (30%) of the value of the contributions that she did not pay or that she paid in excess of the prescribed amount.

Al-Subaihi indicated that the penalty for anyone who in bad faith provides incorrect data for security is stipulated in Paragraph (A) of Article (100) of the law, which states: “Anyone who makes bad faith in any way shall be punished with a fine of not less than one thousand dinars and not more than two thousand dinars. Incorrect data to obtain for himself or for others a salary or compensation under the provisions of this law without right

Regarding his legal opinion on what should be followed in this case, Al-Subaihi answers: “The Higher Committee for the management of the Jerash Festival, in its capacity as the party that contracted with the person of the festival director under a service purchase agreement, must decide on the subject of the wage or the comprehensive reward that he receives, and whether any reward has been decided for him. If it is proven that he has unlawfully increased the wage or reward set forth in the agreement, the agreement must be terminated with him, and he shall be charged with the full consequences and effects of this termination, and the guarantee institution must impose the financial penalty that stipulated She must have the law and resort to the judiciary for this purpose.”

In a related context, another document revealed the existence of a legal violation that hinders the appointment of Kawar as director of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts. Data from the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that Kawar works as an honorary consul of the Republic of Poland in Jordan, and that the system of honorary consuls adopted in Jordan and issued in 2019, Article 5 states It stipulates that the consul is not an employee or worker in the government or in any of the official public institutions, which is inconsistent with Kawar being the director of the Jerash Festival, as he should have resigned from his position as a consul before accepting his assignment to manage the festival, and his remaining in his position violates the decisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applicable.

An informed source in the Jordanian Ministry of Culture told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the decision to appoint Kawar as director of the festival is borne by its former minister, and that the current minister, Haifa Al-Najjar, is following up on the matter to find out its merits.

At a time when the festival director did not respond to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s calls or messages sent to his phone, one of the festival management workers described what is going on as a “storm in a teacup”, originating from former employees of the festival management who were recently dismissed.