Jordan Times
Thursday, December 2, 2004
King opens second session
By a staff reporter
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah opened the second ordinary session of the 14th
Parliament on Wednesday urging a step up of national programmes meant to improve
citizens' lives.
In his Speech from the Throne to the bicameral Chamber of 55 senators and 110
deputies, King Abdullah said that during his visits around the country since
assuming his responsibilities, citizens tell him that they feel no benefits of
these programmes, a priority he has long pushed for.
“A party member told me: `We have suffered all through our life from economic
recession'; another citizen said: `Poverty and unemployment are a sword
threatening our necks'; a third citizen said: `We heard a lot about development,
but saw nothing of it',” the King told the Chamber, filled to capacity in the
rafters by senior officials, diplomats, the press and ordinary citizens who
filled the Dome with applause.
“From these direct encounters with people, I am convinced that the fruits of
what we achieved during these years, although important, did not reach yet to
all sectors of society, and that citizens have doubts concerning the ability of
the state to fulfil promises and implement the plans and programmes about which
we are talking.”
He gave credit to national achievements such as the rise in the rate of economic
growth, increased exports and investment, an invigoration of the stock market, a
reduction in debt and an increase in foreign exchange reserve, saying these
strides place Jordan firmly on the right track. But he insisted that efforts
regarding plans and programmes be intensified and implementation be sped up.
King Abdullah added that these programmes emerged from his vision and citizens'
aspirations in the national interests, and not from any external conditions or
influence.
“[T]hey are an embodiment of our free will and not a reaction or a response to
conditions beyond this will,” the King stressed (see full text of the speech).
The King reiterated his conviction that although instability in the region has
its negative impact on Jordan, these conditions should not be used as
justification for not making progress.
“[W]e should not allow these conditions to be an excuse to justify the results
of negligence or errors that occur here and there; rather, these conditions
should stimulate us to intensify and double our efforts, and to accelerate our
achievements, so that we can overcome the negative and future effects of these
conditions, and be the stronger supporter for the causes of our nation and
brethren, especially in Palestine and Iraq.”
In stressing again his primary concern to improve the quality of life of every
citizen, King Abdullah reinforced his call to fight poverty and unemployment. He
also urged the implementation of reforms and correctional measures that would
produce basic and permanent solutions to these problems. He suggested “reviewing
training and educational programmes, procuring additional funding and new job
opportunities, enhancing the individual's respect for work values away from `the
shame culture', giving special attention to the development of governorates,
and, improving and upgrading the agriculture sector.”
The King stressed the importance of improving healthcare, pointing to the
current expansion of national health insurance to include all citizens.
He said human resources would be developed through the government's
comprehensive knowledge-based economy programmes that include computerisation,
rehabilitation of teachers, improving and developing curricula, and upgrading
the standards of research and higher education.
In the public services sector, the King said he was calling for “profound
reformist change in all aspects of administration and government institutions,
one that is based on efficiency and accountability and rehabilitating human
resources which are the basic component of the administrative process.”
King Abdullah concluded by encouraging Parliament to work in unison with the
government and to steer clear of trying to promote personal agendas or parochial
rhetoric.