Feb 25, 2018

Despite what its name indicates, “I Love Mulki” is not a song of love and devotion toward Jordanian Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki. The song, which has gone viral on social media, mocks the prime minister with the lyrics, “Mulki [whom] I love, please increase my taxes. … Mulki [whom] I love, I want to fill my car with gas” — a clear reference to the new taxes imposed on more than 164 commodities, including gas, as part of Jordan’s 2018 budget.

Satire, rather than street demonstrations, appears to be the tool of choice for a group of Jordanians who want to have their objections to the government’s decisions heard. “I Love Mulki” was performed on the internet program “Tashweesh Wadeh” (“Clear Confusion”). Young Jordanians are glued to their screens every Monday at 9:30 p.m. to watch this show. A new episode comes out every week on YouTube that speaks of current events in a mocking way, often rewriting the lyrics of well-known songs such as Queen’s “We Will Rock You” or Los del Rio’s “Macarena” with new, satirical words.

The popular program, produced by production company FooqAlsada and presented by a group of 10 Jordanians from the northern city of Irbid, began in 2011, right at the beginning of the Arab Spring. In Jordan, where a series of relatively peaceful protests swept across the country during the Arab Spring, a group of young Jordanians felt a sense of responsibility to use satire to highlight and address the daily hardships of their fellow Jordanians.

The group initially called itself Group 350, in reference to the first salary they earned in Jordanian dinars, the equivalent of $493, Naser Jarun, the founder of the group, told Al-Monitor.

“[Our] group was made up of young men aged between 20 and 35, most of whom had degrees in information technology. We have resigned from our jobs to establish the company FooqAlsada, which we named after the cafe where we met [regularly]. So the satirical show 'Tashweesh Wadeh,' which addresses the daily social issues of the Jordanian people with a dose of cynicism and comedy, was born right there at a cafe,” Jarun said.