Jordan Times
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Gov’t urged to speed up political reform
AMMAN (JT) — Deputy Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa Fourth
District) has called for extending the duration of the Parliament’s ordinary
session in order to speed up political reforms in the country.
“The short ordinary session is not enough for the legislature to do their work,”
he said.
Currently Parliament sits for just four months of the year.
Hourani made his remarks during a gathering of legislators, journalists and
civil society activists, meeting last week to discuss “political reform in
Jordan from a parliamentary and media perceptive,” according to a statement
released by the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ).
The Lower House deputy argued that although talk about political reform has been
ongoing for years, “we’ve seen no development on the ground, because the
government has no political will.”
“Reform is the right of people not the government,” said Hourani.
Participants in the meeting, organised by the CDFJ, called for reinstating
political will and a responsive social culture to achieve political reforms.
“We need to develop our political institutions,” former Lower House speaker Saed
Hayel Srour said, adding that there have been many achievements in the last few
decades despite the obstacles to political development.
Srour called for protecting the Constitution by introducing new mechanisms, such
as establishing a constitutional council to monitor any breaches.
Fahed Fanek, chairman of the Jordan Press Foundation, disagreed with Srour on
the establishment of a constitutional council or court.
“This court will make constitutional things that have nothing do with the
Constitution,” he said.
Fanek pointed out there was no consensus over the National Agenda concerning
reform, whether inside or outside the government, adding that neither the
current nor former governments have worked on achieving this agenda of reform.
The National Agenda, drawn up by a 2-member Steering Committee, outlines the
nation’s development goals for the next 10 years.