Jordan Times
Friday, January 28, 2005
'King's call a positive
step towards administrative modernisation and political development'
AMMAN (JT) — Officials, professional groups and women activists on Thursday
welcomed His Majesty King Abdullah's announcement that decentralisation would be
instituted through local parliaments.
Speaking to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Interior Minister Samir Habashneh
said King Abdullah's televised address to the nation on Wednesday night
fulfilled the Jordanian people's decades-old aspirations for decentralisation.
“The announcement opens the way for Jordanians in charting their own future and
translating it into action on the ground. It was a start-off whistle for
administrative modernisation and political development,” Habashneh said.
King Abdullah announced plans to redraw provincial administrations that are to
be run by publicly elected local councils.
The King said a Royal committee would be formed to study the various aspects of
such an approach to local governance and to set up the appropriate mechanisms
for its implementation.
Petra quoted General Federation of Jordanian Labour Unions Chief Mazen Maaitah
as saying, “The King has underlined the importance of the role of civil society
in the decision-making process.”
Another union activist, head of Workers in the Food Industries Union Ahmad Abu
Khadra, said King Abdullah “is determined to carry out reforms and at the same
time ensure stability and security for his people by deciding that regional
elections are a necessary process for socio-economic development.”
In his address the King emphasised the importance of expanding the base of
public participation in the “integrated process” of political, social, economic
and administrative development.
Union of Banks and Insurance Workers President Haidar Rashid saw the King's
strategy as a positive step towards the realisation of socio-economic
development. “We hope to see the King's directives translated into facts on the
ground,” Rashid said.
The mayors of Tafileh and Zarqa, two towns plagued by poverty, unemployment and
other socio-economic ills, found the King's plan in harmony with citizens'
aspirations.
Tafileh Mayor Radwan Madani said, “Decentralisation is an important factor for
ensuring sustainable development as it offers the local communities and councils
the right to determine their needs and take decisions for implementation of
projects beneficial to their members.”
Zarqa Mayor Rafat Majali pointed out that King Abdullah is cognisant of the
imbalances in economic development and “has decided to distribute the gains
fairly to all regions, with the local communities making the decisions.”
Women's rights activists have long sought ways to penetrate a male-dominated
political system. They see King Abdullah's insistence on publicly elected local
government as a way in.
Members of the General Federation of Jordanian Women met on Thursday to discuss
the King's strategy in a bid to secure more rights and more gains for women.
Jordanian women make up 48 per cent of the Kingdom's population of 5.4 million.