Employees who stormed Al al-Bayt University president suspended, referred to investigation

AMMAN — The employees who attacked the Al al-Bayt University (AABU) president’s office have been suspended from work and referred to an internal committee for investigation, an official university source said on Tuesday.

Upon hearing that the university President Dia-Eddin Arafeh’s term might be renewed, around 20 to 25 employees on Monday stormed the president’s office demanding his resignation, according to Reem Zoubi, director of the media affairs department at AABU and head of the university radio station.

In a video that went viral on social media networks, the employees were seen surrounding the president at his office and forcing him to leave while shouting “get out… get out”. 

In a joint statement published recently in local news websites, the employees claimed that the academic, administrative and financial situation in Al al-Bayt University in Mafraq Governorate, some 80km northeast of Amman, has deteriorating since four years (since Arafeh came to office), accusing the current  presidency of the JD20 million deficit in the institution’s budget.  

Arafeh was appointed president of AABU in a Royal Decree which was issued in November, 2014.

The university management, in a statement sent to The Jordan Times, rejected all the allegations and described them as “false and baseless”.

The statement said that the university has informed the government about its fiscal deficit after which a financial committee from the Ministry of Finance was formed that has announced a list of clarifying reasons.

 “This act does not represent our institution nor the university’s academicians and employees,” Zoubi told The Jordan Times, adding, “The interior minister is following up on the issue and we take all the necessary legal measures against the perpetrators.”

Zoubi cited a statement by Arafeh in which he stressed that his appointment was upon a Royal Decree which entails that his presidential term is officially valid until the middle of September 2018 and that he will continue to fulfil his duty and exercise his mandate until the official end of his term.

Minister of Higher Education Adel Tweisi has been quoted in news websites as describing the action by the protesting employees as “illegal”.