AMMAN, September 22 (IslamOnline.net) - A battle is being waged in the Jordanian parliament between Islamic and conservative members on one hand and liberals on the other regarding a memorandum signed Sunday, September 21, by 30 MPs recommending a ban on importing, sale and producing alcohols in Jordan.

Islamic MPs affiliated to Islamic Labor Front and headed by Dr. Ali Al-Atoum and Dr. Mohamed Abu Faris seek to render such memorandum a success and reach a compromise with the government to ban alcohols in public areas, while lifting such a ban in tourist areas.

Some liberal MPs oppose this idea, describing it as an encroachment on freedoms. The idea is also denied by some other Islamic MPs, deeming it fanatic in a parliament that seeks to tackle more serious issues.

“The issue of alcohol ban in Jordan is one of our major demands as Islamic MPs. We seek to collect the greatest number possible of signatures,” said Al-Atoum, MP for the Islamic Labor Front, a political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Jordan.

In an interview with IslamOnline.net correspondent Monday, September 22, Al-Atoum expressed his fears that such a memorandum would meet the destiny of a similar one submitted in 1993.

Al-Atoum said that his fears are due a lobby of merchants who are exposed to financial losses because of this decision and hence exercise their influence on the government to render the decision a failure.

For his part, independent MP Khalil Attia expressed his belief that such a campaign would fail for several reasons; chief among which is that the government and the majority of MPs are not fully convinced of that decision.

In an interview with IslamOnline.net, several merchants criticized the proposed ban, claiming that selling and drinking alcohol are among personal freedoms, in which the parliament should not interfere, according to them.

“Such a decision would cause huge losses to big commercial complexes that depend mainly on selling alcohol,” Fadi Sakka, a marketing director in a major shopping mall in Amman, said.

“We offer alcohol to tourists, not to Jordanians. Our attitude should be more broad-minded. Tourism promotion requires serving such products,” he added.

“The idea of depending on alcohol as a source of income is not correct. The evidence of this is our shopping mall that bans selling alcohol, yet our project is a success. Selling alcohol in some major stores is defamatory and reduces the numbers of our clients,” Mohamed Obeid of the Sea Town Mall contradicts previous statements.

For his part, Abdullah Nashaat, a hotel director, said, “Although the Ministry of Tourism does not often give a five-star-hotel license to any hotel that does not sell alcohol, some successful hotels in Jordan refuse to sell or serve alcohol, particularly four-star hotels.”

Alcohol is usually served in Jordan in hotels, tourist facilities, aboard airlines, in nightclubs and alcohol stores. Yet, there are some legislations and laws that incriminate drinking alcohol in public areas and streets or while driving.

Juvenile law stipulates that any one who sells alcohol to teenagers under 18 should be fined and jailed. Jordanian authorities, furthermore, force alcohol stores to close during the month of Ramadan and Islamic occasions.

Jordanian Public Security Directorate has pointed out in a recent statistics that the ratio of drinking alcohol among Jordanian youth and teenagers amounted to 17% in 2002, while it did not exceed 14% during 2001.