His Majesty King Abdullah II
Speech from the Throne
at the
Opening of the Fourth Ordinary Session of Parliament
November 28, 2006
Amman, Jordan
Following is the official
translation of His Majesty King Abdullah’s Speech from the Throne on Tuesday:
In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate and prayers and peace
be upon our master Mohammad, the honest Arab Hashemite Prophet,
Honourable Senators, Honourable Deputies, Peace, God’s mercy and His blessings
be upon you,
In the name of God, and with His blessings, we inaugurate the fourth ordinary
session of the fourteenth Parliament, praying to the Almighty, may He be
exalted, to help us shoulder our responsibility, and grant us success in serving
our dear people and realising their noble national hopes and ambitions, and in
completing the building of Jordan, a progressive modern country; an Arab Muslim
country with a Hashemite conscience and passion, that receives resolve and power
from its national institutions, the strong resolution of its citizens, their
free will and their sincere belonging to the soil of this dear homeland and its
noble message.
This belonging is deep-rooted in their hearts and conscience, and is embodied in
their national motto: Jordan First, in all circumstances.
The constitutional event we witness today is a pledge to Jordan’s democratic
march, which we are keen to protect and preserve and to which we are keen to
open new horizons so that it will grow roots in a state governed by law and
institutions, and in a climate where noble values prevail — the values of
tolerance, dialogue, respect for others and justice, equality and equal
opportunities for all Jordanians.
Honourable Senators,
Honourable Deputies,
Internal and external challenges are numerous and dangerous. We must rise to
meet them with utmost seriousness and responsibility. There is no time for
delay. We are sure that, with the help of God and the resolve of Jordanians, we
will prove stronger than all these challenges. We will be able to face them by
strengthening and enhancing our internal front; by realising more economic,
social, political and legislative achievements and by maintaining a fast pace of
achievement, modernisation and development in a climate of security and
stability — the basic pillars for development in all spheres.
In this respect, I would like to affirm the importance, and necessity of
finalising the laws sent to your honourable Parliament, especially those
regulating political parties, municipalities, media and freedom of information.
Praise be to God for the national consensus achieved in the “We are All Jordan”
meetings, and reflected in practical working programmes and unanimous agreement
on immutable national principles.
Thus, the next phase of the government’s work will be based on a number of these
national principles, primary among: Improving Jordanians’ living standards,
preserving public freedoms, enhancing popular participation — especially the
participation of women and youth — in decision making, fighting corruption,
ensuring the supremacy of law, enhancing the judiciary’s independence, enhancing
transparency and accountability, focusing on human resource development and
self-sufficiency and strengthening the pillars of financial stability and those
of our currency.
We have succeeded, praise be to God, in obtaining aid from the Arab Gulf states,
especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which continue to offer aid to Jordan
and have stood by her under all conditions. We appreciate and take pride in
their brotherly and honourable support. Hence, I directed the government, as
they were preparing the general budget for 2007, to include programmes and
projects that would improve the standard of living of citizens in all
governorates, enhance the investment climate and realise justice in the
distribution of the benefits of development.
To realise these goals, my government has committed itself to enhancing and
strengthening the internal front, to anchoring the principles of citizenship and
belonging, to making a clear and frank commitment to the homeland’s principles,
and to realising political pluralism and respect for the opinion of the
majority. The government will work towards fulfilling all the forthcoming
political and constitutional duties. Primary among them are holding
parliamentary elections, protecting Jordanians’ human rights, ensuring freedom
for individuals and groups, and enhancing youth participation in all stages of
work and development.
Honourable Senators,
Honourable Deputies,
My government will seek to elevate the standard of services, encourage
investment, accelerate privatisation and improve the conditions of the labour
market. My government will seek to build an institutional investment framework
that will ensure coordination between investment bodies and support promising
sectors, especially tourism and industry, information technology and services,
on condition that the private sector will play the bigger role in formulating
and implementing different reform processes.
My government will seek to accelerate the restructuring of the public sector by
streamlining the bureaucracy and providing incentives and support to increase
the efficiency of this sector. As for fighting poverty, my government will seek
to reallocate financial resources to target the poor directly, through the
Social Solidarity Commission, to coordinate national aid efforts.
My government will complete the construction of 1,400 housing units which I had
previously ordered to be built, and will provide 5,000 lots of land with
infrastructure to be distributed to poor families during 2007. This will be
complemented by the establishment of economic development zones in a number of
governorates, and the enhancement of the capabilities of local institutions,
municipalities and the cooperative sector so that their contribution to local
development will be strengthened.
Jordanians are Jordan’s real wealth. They are known to be capable of facing
challenges and realising achievement. Thus, my government will continue to
implement programmes to raise the standard of education and training, and to
strike a balance between the outcomes of academic and vocational education and
the requirements of the national economy. In addition, the government will seek
to expand the health insurance umbrella, and to establish a number of medical
centres in the governorates.
Our Armed Forces and security institutions are our homeland’s shield, and the
alert eye that safeguards its security and stability. We are proud of them, and
we appreciate their performance. My government will commit itself to fulfilling
all the needs of the forces and the institutions, to develop and modernise them,
and provide them with all modern facilities, so that they will remain, as they
have always been, an example of excellence, efficiency, able to shoulder their
august responsibility.
Honourable Senators,
Honourable Deputies,
Jordan inherited the message of the Great Arab Revolt, and will remain, with
God’s help, loyal to this message. It will bear its duty towards the Arab and
Islamic nation. My government, therefore, commits itself to offering all
possible support to the Palestinians so that they can regain their rights and
establish their independent state on Palestinian soil, in accordance with the
resolutions of international legitimacy and international peace initiatives.
Jordan will not accept an unjust settlement of this issue, nor will Jordan
accept any settlement that comes at its expense.
My government will continue to stand by the Iraqi people, and by Iraq’s unity,
sovereignty, security and stability.
As for regional challenges, and the circumstances through which the region is
passing, from the moment they appeared, Jordan sought to crystallise a united
Arab stance that could speak to the world in one voice and face these
challenges. It will continue in earnest to exert such efforts.
Arab belonging means that we should shoulder certain responsibilities towards
our Arab nation. Likewise, our belonging to our Islamic religion and the honour
we hold as direct descendants of the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, means
that we should shoulder responsibilities towards our hanif (true) religion,
Islam, and the issues that concern Muslims around the world. We are the most
eligible to defend Islam and show its brightness to the world around us by
refusing the accusations against it and challenging the campaigns to distort it
by some Muslim extremists and some non-Muslims. The Amman Message, which we
launched earlier, was a step in this direction.
Honourable Senators,
Honourable Deputies,
Over the past seven years, we have realised numerous achievements, but the road
ahead is still long. We have to work earnestly and seriously to realise our
national objectives, and complete the modernisation of Jordan as a state of
institutions, where law is supreme, and where every citizen enjoys justice,
equal opportunities, democracy, security and stability.
I am sure that with the resolve of Jordanians, men and women, we will be able to
realise the ambitions of our generous people, and to overcome all challenges and
hardships.
I pray to God, the Sublime, to grant all of us success in serving our dear
country; we are all partners in responsibility and we are all Jordan.
Peace, God’s mercy and His blessings be upon you.