Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
National Agenda to ensure
stability in policies — Muasher
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — When the National Agenda is completed and approved by the committee
appointed by His Majesty King Abdullah, no ministry or government agency will be
authorised to draw up any plan that is inconsistent with the agenda guidelines,
a senior official said yesterday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs and
Government Performance Marwan Muasher, who heads the 26-member Steering
Committee for the National Agenda, stressed that the agenda will be binding for
all successive governments for the next decade.
“It is not an agenda exclusive for the incumbent government,” he told reporters
at a press conference yesterday, “rather, it is a state agenda that will ensure
stability in policies.”
“This does not mean that there will be no amendments to it in the future,” he
said, “but a mechanism will be set for that.”
The Steering Committee, formed on Feb. 9, is tasked with setting guidelines for
the Kingdom's development for the next 10 years
It groups a former prime minister, incumbent and former ministers, leading MPs,
politicians, academics and businesspeople.
Muasher said the components of agenda had not been decided yet, but discussions
of proposals are under way.
He added that subcommittees comprising experts in the various sectors would be
set up to help build the agenda, which is expected to be wrapped up in September
this year.
These subcommittees will work on development guidelines for each sector targeted
for development, the minister said. The Steering Committee's role will be to
coordinate the work of these committees.
After the agenda is ready, the Government Performance Ministry will be
responsible for monitoring the work of ministries and agencies to ensure that
they abide by its guidelines. The first report is expected in December.
“This report will not be detailed of course,” Muasher told the press, “but the
public will have access to it, particularly since it will include the criteria
and standards of performance according to the National Agenda,” he explained.
“For example,” the minister elaborated, “if the agenda stipulates that per
capita income should be doubled during the coming decade, criteria for
evaluation should also be set and the public should be acquainted with them.”
In a letter to Prime Minister Faisal Fayez in February, the King said that
“implementation and a sound evaluation mechanism are key elements in the entire
process.”
The government, the King said, should be the “engine” of all the parties
involved in efforts to translate the national goals into facts on the ground.