Former prime minister, lawmaker, and Royal Court Chief Fayez Al-Tarawneh is no longer with us, but his legacy will stay on for a very long time.
For me, personally, his philosophy, statesmanship, and brand of politics will live forever, as I had the honor to work closely with this man whom I have considered a mentor and a father figure for many years.
He is aptly described as a go-to man for his wisdom, earned over years of hard work on delicate tasks in many key positions, inside the country and abroad.
He was prime minister when His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal passed away, and His Majesty King Abdullah II ascended the Throne.
Before that, he was entrusted by King Hussein to lead difficult negotiations with Israel over the details of the historic peace treaty signed between the two countries in 1994.
It was during his time as the country’s envoy to the US that he successfully mended fences between Amman and Washington, following the 1990-1991 Gulf War and its aftermath on the Jordanian-US bilateral ties.
He was close to King Abdullah II, as prime minister in 2012 and then as chief of Royal Court. Those were the years of the Arab Spring, when certain powers were emboldened by changes in other Arab countries to loudly demand drastic changes in governance. His political position during that era was driven by his genuine belief in the need for stability and balance at a time of turbulence, and he did all in his power to achieve that goal. Mission was accomplished, and Jordan was back on track, resuming its pursuit of a better future amid rivalries, crippling economic crises, and a world changing beyond control.
Tarawneh’s legacy as a political thinker and a representative of a distinct school in conservative politics is manifest in his memoirs, published in Arabic under the title “In the Service of Two Reigns”.
He believed in evolutionary reforms, and preached against uncalculated leaps pushed for by some of the opposition. As long as the political system and the Throne are stable, he believed, reform would eventually take place, through a normal birth, not a C-Section.
Tarawneh, who, as a negotiator and a former foreign minister gained insight into the Israeli mentality, always believed that Jordan’s future will be influenced by developments on the Palestinian front, insisting that Jordan should play a key role in any effort to solve the Mideast conflict, especially since the social fabric of the Jordanian community is inherently linked to Palestine and its people due to deep links between the two communities and geographies.
As an economist, with a PhD in the field from University of Southern California, he believed that the lack of economic resources is the main hindrance to economic progress and prosperity in the Kingdom. The solution, in his view, was to invest in the status the country’s political leadership enjoys worldwide to build economic alliances and lure investments.
Sometimes he was described as pragmatic. As far as I know, he did not use this term to describe his politics. He always looked at success as something relative, not absolute. But in all cases, the word “impossible” was not in his lexicon. He believed there must be a solution to the most formidable challenge, even in the darkest hours.
Tarawneh believed that our country is a survivor, and has made miracles to date.
The fact that Tarawneh was buried in the Royal Cemetery, upon directives of His Majesty the King, who attended the funeral, is telling: This man, inspired by all Hashemite leaders and buried in the Hashemite cemetery, made history through his sound convictions and his unwavering allegiance.
The writer is a former advisor at the Royal Hashemite Court, a former director of media and communication at the Office of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and works as a senior advisor for business development at Al-Ghad and Jordan News.
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