Wasta

THE DECLARED SECRET

A study on nepotism and favouritism in Jordan

Sa’eda Kilani                  Basem Sakijha

Wasta in Jordan: The Declared Secret

Printed at the Jordan Press Foundation

March 2002

Prepared and edited by the Arab Archives Institute
Mob: 962-79-9860004
Tel: 962-6-4656694
Fax: 962-6-4656693
Mailing Address: POBox: 815454 Amman- Jordan
Email: aainstitute@gmail.com
Website: www.alarcheef.com
Price: $10
Number of Pages: 134

Contents

INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

This Book

First Chapter-PERCEPTIONS OF WASTA

What is Wasta?
As People see it
Wasta And The System
Within the System

Second Chapter: POLITICAL REGIME AND WASTA

Political Will.
History in the making
Governments and Wasta
State organs to fight corruption
How People see it

Third Chapter: CIVIL SOCIETY

Parliament
The Media
The Judiciary

Fourth Chapter: Wasta: THE DECLARED SECRET

How to fight Wasta

Fifth Chapter: WASTA AND LEGISLATION

In the constitution
In the Transparency International Source Book

Endnotes

Annexes

Selected Articles on Wasta

Prince Ali’s Letter on the Internet

A Survey: Wasta in Jordan. 

This Book

This book comes as a preliminary study of the phenomenon of Wasta at a time when political will is more and more adamant on fighting what it termed as the“epidemic” that has to be radically eliminated, and when the society has become increasingly uncomfortable with the repercussions of one of the most discriminatory phenomena in the country.

The Arab Archives Institute attempted to gather in this book all existing material on the subject. And because previous research on the subject was limited, the Institute carried out direct and written interviews with selected personalities from five main fields: politicians, journalists, artists, doctors and lawyers. It is envisaged that further studies on the other sectors, such as banking, engineering, public service, etc. will be completed in forthcoming books.

Readers will not help but notice the extent of damage Wasta has done to the system:whether in poor public services or in discriminatory measures and practices that hamper proper development and affects prosperous investment.

That is why this book attempts to touch on this basic problem, in the hope that it might lead to a general will by the society and the leadership combined, to eradicate Wasta. This might be carried out, as the book suggests, through legislation, laws or codes of honour as well as public awareness campaigns. It will also be reduced if projects such as e-government and reform programmes are implemented on the ground with the right mechanisms. But Wasta, or  other forms of nepotism and cronyism, will not be eradicated if people who use them and encourage them are or will be in power...

INTRODUCTION

Amman does not sleep the night of the Tawjihi exam results. Students stay awake awaiting final results. They hover in massive groupings around the buildings of daily newspapers until dawn, passing through an anxious, disturbing period. From the sons and daughters of influential personalities to the simple and modest offspring, all students stand with complete equality, in a rare moment that many Jordanians might not acknowledge.

The secondary school exam, the Tawjihi, represents the climax of equality among people, where Wasta (1), the use of connections for personal/others gain/interest, disappears almost entirely only to be replaced by a genuine test of capabilities and qualification. This status of national consensus on a certain matter is not haphazardous.

There is a high confidence that the sealed papers, where names of students are covered, where procedures are transparent and where questions of the exams are not leaked beforehand, are the reasons that created such unique atmosphere of assurance and confidence in the integrity of the results.

The distinguished aura however, would soon vanish with the attempts of students’, their parents, relatives, tribes, acquaintances, and friends, to reach out for connections that would help in securing a seat at a faculty in a probably distinguished university. Some would even go further and attempt to get scholarships for their sons and daughters inside or outside the kingdom regardless of the grades obtained. At this stage, capabilities are no longer the decisive factor in securing a seat or obtaining a scholarship at the university as the rules dictate. Free and fair competition wither and transparent procedures would soon disappear to let Wasta, all kinds of Wasta, in.

This state of contradiction, in which the student and his/her parents, go through, is a reflection of a more comprehensive status of the whole society. Because, in spite of the deep conviction that Wasta is a negative phenomenon in general,(2) which is explained by the general satisfaction of the Tawjihi exam procedures, in practice, Wasta seems to be transformed into an inevitable evil and an inescapable reality.

And although many of the influential personalities children are confident of the “superpowers” of their parents and know beforehand that they would be able to acquire a university seat whatever their results were, the Tawjihi exam remains a reflection of their capabilities in the society’s eyes. ‘How much did you get in Tawjihi’ is a question that could be asked even after the passage of 20 and 30 years on the exam! It may not reflect the person’s abilities because of the circumstances that might affect the student at the time, but it is certainly one rare evaluation where the result had not been rigged, faltered or manipulated.

Jumping to conclusions in the Wasta issue is not that easy however. Condemning the manner of work in the administrative apparatus is self-imposed, but it should not let us turn a blind eye to the development of a certain culture in the society that considers Wasta as a normal, and sometimes as a good practice encouraging it in the name of achieving justice.

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