Jordan Times
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Gov't retreat begins today
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah is to chair part of a three-day
government retreat, which begins today at the Dead Sea.
Minister of Culture and Government Spokesperson Asma Khader said discussions at
the retreat will tackle public policies on several key issues, including
investment, health, human resources, tourism, culture, media and poverty
alleviation.
Khader, meanwhile, said the Cabinet formed four ministerial committees as part
of a plan to regulate decision making at the Council of Ministers:
1. The Committee on Public Sector Reform, to be headed by Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs and Government Performance
Marwan Muasher.
2. The Socio-Economic Development Committee, to be headed by Minister of
Planning and International Cooperation Bassem Awadallah.
3. The Human Resources Committee, to be headed by Minister of Education Khalid
Touqan.
4. The Legal Committee, to be headed by Minister of Justice Salah Bashir.
On Sunday, King Abdullah accepted the oath of office of 10 new ministers and the
resignation of three in a long-awaited reshuffle of the Cabinet.
It was the first reshuffle since Faisal Fayez was appointed prime minister a
year ago. The post of overseeing government performance, assumed by Muasher, was
created to ensure government accountability with a preliminary mandate to revamp
the policy making body's administrative structure.