Jordan’s King announces to lift COVID restriction soon
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Salma Hossein
- . May 25, 2022
- . Update: May 26, 2022 2:33 pm
Jordan–Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Wednesday that he would lift the emergency laws in the country. The emergency laws were imposed when the pandemic began about two years ago.
“We are looking forward to stopping working under the Defence Orders in the next few months, to turn the page on the coronavirus crisis,” the king said in a speech delivered to mark the kingdom’s independence day. After the speech, Jordan’s PM issued a decision to drop mask mandates in enclosed and public places, state news agency Petra reported.
In March 2020, the monarch gave expansive powers to his government and security forces to enforce an emergency to fight the pandemic. Among measures were absolute bans on assembly and curfews — part of a crackdown on dissent. As a result, Jordan’s economy went into recession, which the administration blamed on the pandemic. It contracted by 2 percent in 2020 and unemployment reached a record of 25 percent, as per official figures.
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However, in 2021, the economy grew 2 percent, official data showed. The government expects 2 percent economic growth again this year. It is pertinent to state that Jordan became an independent kingdom in 1946 and maintained strong ties with Britain — a country that played a crucial role in the founding of the country in 1921. The great-grandfather of the current king, King Abdullah, was the country’s first monarch.
On Wednesday, the king received independence day congratulations from global leaders. These included the President, Sheikh Mohamed, and Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
