Jordan Times
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
PM to present policy
statement Tuesday
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN - The government is expected to present its policy statement to the
Parliament on Tuesday, a senior official said.
State Minister for Media and Communications Nasser Judeh said after the Cabinet
meeting yesterday that the statement, which the new government will present to
the lawmakers ahead of a vote of confidence, will be based on the Letter of
Designation and the Speech from the Throne, which His Majesty King Abdullah
delivered as he inaugurated Parliament’s ordinary session on Sunday.
Earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali said, following a meeting with
Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, the statement would be delivered “within a week”.
The speaker and the premier agreed the House will begin deliberating the policy
statement before it embarks on discussing the state budget for 2008, Majali was
quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying.
Dahabi was named prime minister late last month, replacing Marouf Bakhit who
remained at the helm of the executive branch for nearly two years.
He heads a team of 27 ministers with the main task of pulling the economy from
its doldrums and improving living conditions of citizens, a goal which His
Majesty described as top priority in the coming stage, which is expected to see
fuel subsidies fully lifted and subsequent harsher living conditions.
In the Letter of Designation, King Abdullah directed the government to offset
the consequences of rising oil prices through a social safety network and
linking incomes to the inflation rate, which stood in 2006 at six per cent.
The network would cover education, health and housing. In the Sunday speech, the
King said 2008 should be the “year of housing” that would see thousands of
housing units built for low- and limited-income segments, including government
schoolteachers, to be offered at affordable instalments.
The policy statement is expected to focus on political reforms as well.
Observers forecast Dahabi will easily gain the trust of a House dominated by
tribal figures and independents, with minimal representation from the opposition
after the defeat of the Islamists in the November 20 polls. According to some
estimates, the premier, who enjoys a good track record, would break the 100-vote
limit in the vote of confidence.
House Deputy Speaker Mamdouh Abbadi (Amman, 3rd District) told The Jordan Times
yesterday he expects that Dahabi’s road to House confidence would be smooth.
He attributed this to the fact the new premier and his team are mainly
“technocrats with a good reputation”.
He added that most likely, the Cabinet would base the Letter of Designation as
the basis of its policy statement. The Royal letter, he said, said it all and
set the pillars of government action for the coming stage.
The meeting between Dahabi and Majali comes in line with a new trend to smoothen
relations between the two authorities, which were strained during the 2003-2007
Parliament.
“I found great understanding from [Dahabi] on the importance of a genuine
partnership relation between the executive and legislative authorities based on
complementing each other,” Majali was quoted by Petra as saying.
Abbadi noted that even incumbent lawmakers do not look at the legacy of the
outgoing government favourably.
During his Speech from the Throne, the King criticised the previous Parliament
as well as former governments for impeding reform policies.
"I have noted that in years past, the government has not implemented all the
projects and plans required of them, in spite of the availability of the
necessary funding for these projects. On the other hand, the legislature
hampered the government's work by delaying the endorsement of requisite
legislation."
Meanwhile, the House convenes today to elect its 14 committees and refer a
number of legislations to the concerned committees.
Several veteran deputies have been holding meetings with new MPs in hope of
reaching a consensus on certain high-profile committees, mainly the financial,
legal, education and foreign relation panels, according to parliamentary
sources.
The Lower House’ permanent office has notified deputies to register their names
as nominees for committees prior to Wednesday session.
On Sunday, deputies elected Abdul Hadi Majali as speaker and Abbadi as his first
deputy.
The Parliament is also scheduled to refer a number of legislations to concerned
committees for study and recommendation including the free zones draft law,
which has been given urgent status.
Khalid Neimat contributed to this article