Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 10, 2004

King renews support for gov't

Chairing part of a Cabinet meeting, the King urged cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities “to ensure the success of plans we have drawn up to develop Jordan.”

He called for establishing a mechanism within three months to follow up on the implementation of government plans under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Mohammad Halaiqa.

The King stressed that evaluating ministers should be based on their performance and the success of their ministries in development plans.

King Abdullah thanked Prime Minister Faisal Fayez and his ministerial team for their efforts to accomplish development plans, set at a retreat in Aqaba ahead of the official formation of the government late last year. He acknowledged the pressures the ministers had during parliamentary debates of confidence and the state budget. Nevertheless, ministers should put the debates behind their backs and move ahead towards the future, the Monarch said.

He said the Lower House's rejection of laws could be a way to pressure the government, while the laws themselves are not the target.

The King also stressed the need to develop the decision making mechanism of the Cabinet, urging more coordination among ministries.

He attributed the previous governments' failure in implementing the long-proposed plan of the “investment window” partly to the lack of coordination between ministries.

The King said his own observations of each ministry's performance will be sent to each member of the Cabinet for consideration and implementation.

For his part, Fayez said his government believes in dialogue with all citizens, noting that he has so far visited four of the country's 12 governorates to examine their situations.

The premier said his team will conduct an evaluation of the government performance every six months.

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