Here's the Oath of Allegiance to become a US citizen that immigrants repeat on the day they want to become US citizen:
أقسم أن أنبذ كل الولاء لأية دولة أجنبية.إخلاصي وولائي من هذا اليوم إلى الأمام هو الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية. وأتعهد بأن أدعم وأشرف وأن أكون مخلصا للولايات المتحدة ودستورها وقوانينها. وعند الحاجة تحت الدستور بأن أكرس نفسي للدفاع عن قوانينها ودستورها ضد كل الأعداء ، المحليين والاجانب, سواء عن طريق الخدمة العسكرية أو المدنية, أقسم بذلك فساعدني يا الله
Now Tell me, can you still be an American citizen AND Jordanian? Can you renounce ANY loyalty to Jordan in a serious oath, and then be part of a Jordanian cabinet overlooking the interests of Jordanians?
Can you command Jordanians troops or take control of its budget when you have sworn not to have any relationship with this country?
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9 comments:
Not easy to answer at all. And I think the issue is more complicated than asking one to lose his second passport if he wants to be a government official.
But here is my take on the issue being a citizen of one country only, Jordan.
When a government official is elected or assigned I, as a citizen, expect him to be responsible for what he is assigned to do. And when things go really bad, like an economic collapse, earthquake, war, etc. I want him to be around working on solving the problem, finding ways to help citizens overcome what they are facing not seeking refuge in his second country.
But then some would argue that you don't need another passport to flee the country. Having extra money would be enough. And they also would argue that having another passport doesn't mean they are loyal to that country more than they are to Jordan.
I see no harm in having two nationalities. Most people do it because it will make their life easier. Non-Jordanians living in Jordan with a Jordanian passport don't have to pay for their residence and renew documents every year and what not.
I don't oppose one having two passports and I see no harm about it, but I do when this person accepts a high position in the government.
Nevertheless, why should we doubt the loyalty of a person to be a government official simply because he was born outside Jordan and granted nationality of that country at born?
As I mentioned the issue is more complicated than simply rejecting dual citizenship for government officials. There are many factors to determine whether one is loyal or note because of his dual citizenship. I don’t know if the constitution can be updated or changed but I have a feeling that this new law is not going to last.
I hate when a comment is longer than the post. I am sorry I just found my comment is too long after I submitted it. It is an interesting topic and posting the American oath is another way of looking at the issue. I have more to say but I will stop here :)
I believe there's another oath that the high ranking official must perform before assuming duties. Therefore... He's under two oaths. Which one will he honor? I believe actions speak much louder than words...
But that's just me :) and I obviously have a vested interest in this.
There is no such a rule in the USA for example, even the president can have another citizenship as long as he’s born in the US.
jaraad and Qwiader, allow me to disagree with you. I think it's very simple. If a mentally-capable person stands and makes this oath, under no obligation from anyone else, then he must honor it. He can still serve his country of origin, even donate all his money to that country and make major invetments there, but when it comes to allegiance, he cannnot be loyal to more than one country.
He RENOUNCED his country of origin, as simple as that, that's why it was very important to place this statement as the first sentence in the oath: Renouncing any allegiance to any other country came first even before mentioning the consitutition of the US.
Hareega, what about the point Jaraad raised regarding someone who got their citizenship by being born to an American mother or born in the US. That person wouldn't have taken the oath would they? Does that make it ok for them to assume a high-profile position in your opinion?
I totally see where you're coming from.. it’s a good point, but is it really a strong enough reason to justify the trade-off? I strongly believe that by further filtering our already-thin pool of resources from a number of skilled professionals can only mean less efficient options available for the government to chose from and more room for wasta-based appointments. We are obviously stripped to the bone in terms of capable resources and removing a couple of players from the “musical chairs game” will only make it easier for the rest of the players. If anything we should be looking at making it more difficult instead! To illustrate in a Barcelona analogy, this is like having to play Martin Montoya at right back because Dani Alves is horrendously ugly.
Also, give us Cesc back.
You present great arguments Hareega and I agree with you to a certain extent. But I also can't feel that it's OK to alienate some of the best resources as London said above!
People and ideas cross-pollinate and work on importing ideas that work back to build their home nations and there is nothing in that.
I bet you if you look back at the history of our best ministers and prime-ministers in Jordan you would find many of them had western education (and families), so this means that at a certain point in time some might have had citizenships of other countries.
I believe your allegiance is where your heart is... pure and simple.
why i think the oath only a formality not serious!! no one took their oath seriously these days whether they did it for more then 5 countries;
London and Qwaider, I would agree with you if we were discussing hiring options for a company, but it's different when it comes to a government of a country. I know Jordan has tried to avoid conflict with any country at any cost but if a conflict is to arise it's important to know that people making all decisions for Jordanians are Jordanians as well and don't harbor loyalties to any foreign country. I know some of the best government officials had dual-citizenship, even the best military leader in Jordan's history (Glubb Pasha) was British.
I'm not necessarily supporting the last decision by the government because I think it was more of a distraction, but it's an issue that had to be raised at one point.
Crown of Creation... it's only
a formality for people who don't honor oaths, and I agree they are a minority
and London by the way, when Fabregas was still with Arsenal and "mistakenly" gave that back heel to Barcelona in the Champions League, I knew he was going to sign that juicy contract with Barcelona
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