Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
National Agenda to
guarantee consistency Muasher
By staff reporters
AMMAN The National Agenda is to glean functional elements from existing policy
documents, work them into new recommendations and emerge with guidelines that
direct the path of the country in eight spheres and guarantee continuity, Royal
Court Minister Marwan Muasher said yesterday.
Meeting with the press on Monday, Muasher said the committee charged with
drafting the National Agenda is consulting Jordan's National Charter and the
Jordan First document to achieve a comprehensive plan that differs from its
predecessors in its application.
Responding to a question about the agenda's legal bearing, Muasher said the
recommendations would represent a national consensus as reflected by the makeup
of the committee and that it would not supersede the Constitution. The agenda
will not draft legislation but rather recommendations and initiatives that will
be presented to governments which are authorised to translate the
recommendations into draft bills for forwarding to Parliament.
Muasher said the recommendations would not be binding to the legislature but
would follow the country's regular legislative process.
He explained that the National Agenda's viability is linked to four conditions:
Comprehensiveness, incorporation in the national budget, measurable performance
and transparency.
The Steering Committee for the National Agenda was formed by a Royal Decree and
mandated to set guidelines for the country's advancement in all social, economic
and political arenas for the next decade.
Acknowledging public scepticism on the purpose of the National Agenda,
particularly as other policy initiatives have borne little fruit, Muasher said
the function of the National Agenda, due to be revealed in September, is to set
principles and guidelines that will ensure continuity of policies rather than
fluctuation.
It is a long-term vision that will form the general framework of future
policies and guarantee consistency, and therefore avoid past omissions.
Frequent changes in government, either by reshuffles or complete Cabinet
overhauls, have led to slow performance and confusion in public policy
implementation.
Muasher, who heads the Steering Committee for the National Agenda, said the
checks and balances inherent in linking the agenda to the national budget,
starting with FY 2006, ensures its implementation.
We are working with the Ministry of Finance in order to make sure that mid-term
budgets begin to prioritise programmes recommended by the committee. All the
recommendations may not be included in the first year, but they will be
incorporated in order of priority.
Reiterating that the National Agenda would comprise timetables for the
accomplishment of its programmes, the minister said performance indicators would
gauge achievements.
He said transparency would be realised through public record so that citizens
would be able to hold governments accountable.
The minister listed the eight spheres of national interest in the formulation of
the agenda as: Political development, legislation and justice, infrastructure,
investment, financial reform, labour and vocational training, education and
higher education, and social welfare.
Emphasising that the National Agenda is a nonstop route to future characterised
by democracy, pluralism, and social and economic advances, he said the plan
bears the will of His Majesty King Abdullah.
You have to realise that we are crossing a threshold and there is no going back
once the first step is taken. That is what we mean in stating that the National
Agenda is not about persons or governments but about programmes and national
consensus.