Jordan’s King Abdullah II inaugurated a new parliament on Sunday with a call for accelerating reforms that have stagnated in the face of conservative tribal opposition.
For the first time publicly, Abdullah admitted that the government’s relationship with the previous legislature “suffered from numerous shortcomings that hindered our reform efforts.”
“A strong parliament that exercises its constitutional responsibilities in legislation and monitoring is essential for the realization of our vision for our people,” Abdullah told the newly elected 120-seat Chamber of Deputies.
PHOTO: AFP
Abdullah, who enjoys significant powers, dissolved the previous legislature halfway through its four-year term last year amid complaints that its predominantly conservative tribal lawmakers blocked legislation necessary to advance women’s rights and adopt policies for an open-market economy.
The king arrived to a lavish military ceremony outside the domed parliament chamber in the heart of Amman. Abdullah, who also holds the title of the supreme commander of the armed forces, inspected an honor guard as 21 guns boomed in a traditional salute.
The Chamber of Deputies met jointly with the 60-member, royally appointed Senate to hear Abdullah outline his policy.
Abdullah said that economic reform would continue to “top our -priorities” as Jordan faces “enormous” economic challenges, partly caused by the global recession.
He said the difficulties include a record budget deficit of US$2.1 billion and high unemployment and poverty.
“Political, economic, social and administrative reforms are interconnected,” he said. “We have emphasized, therefore, that economic reform should be accompanied by political reform that increases public participation in the decision-making process.”
As a start, he asked lawmakers to amend a controversial election law, which prompted Islamist opposition to boycott the Nov. 9 polls on grounds that the bill devalued votes in areas where they had most support.
The government has been hesitant to change the law, fearing Islamists would regain a majority in parliament, as happened in 1989.
Abdullah also urged a stronger role for the media, women, youth and political parties.
He said administrative and judicial reforms were needed to combat nepotism, corruption and bureaucracy. He also recommended legislation to encourage decentralization.
Later, parliament picked deputy Faisal Fayez as speaker. A former prime minister who hails from a prominent tribal Bedouin family known for its support for the king, Fayez ran uncontested for the speakership.
DEATH CONSTANTLY LOOMING: Decades of detention took a major toll on Iwao Hakamada’s mental health, his lawyers describing him as ‘living in a world of fantasy’ A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded US$1.44 million in compensation, an official said yesterday. The payout represents ￥12,500 (US$83) for each day of the more than four decades that Iwao Hakamada spent in detention, most of it on death row when each day could have been his last. It is a record for compensation of this kind, Japanese media said. The former boxer, now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder after a tireless campaign by his sister and others. The case sparked scrutiny of the justice system in
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
‘HUMAN NEGLIGENCE’: The fire is believed to have been caused by someone who was visiting an ancestral grave and accidentally started the blaze, the acting president said Deadly wildfires in South Korea worsened overnight, officials said yesterday, as dry, windy weather hampered efforts to contain one of the nation’s worst-ever fire outbreaks. More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with Acting South Korean Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-dong reporting thousands of hectares burned and four people killed. “The wildfires have so far affected about 14,694 hectares, with damage continuing to grow,” Ko said. The extent of damage would make the fires collectively the third-largest in South Korea’s history. The largest was an April 2000 blaze that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast. More than 3,000
RSS