Cabinet approves decentralisation plan

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Sunday endorsed the preliminary blueprints of the draft by-law governing the decentralisation of the governorate councils and the municipalities draft law, officials announced.

The announcement was made at a joint press conference by Interior Minister Hussein Majali, Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri and Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani, who is also government spokesperson. 

Momani said the Cabinet has translated the Royal vision on decentralised local government into practical steps to enable municipalities and governorate councils to improve their performance and upgrade the quality of their services.  

To carry out the mission, the government has built on previous experiences and studies conducted for this purpose, Momani said, adding that the government is working to meet the legal and constitutional requirements to pave the way for implementing the decentralisation plan, a key component of the reform process aimed at engaging people in policy and decision making related to their areas. 

Majali pointed out that the Council of Ministers formed a specialised committee to handle the task, noting that the decentralisation is a tool to achieve sustainable and comprehensive local development. 

He added that the committee decided that the regulations governing the issue should take the form of a by-law to make it flexible and updatable (without the need to go to Parliament).  According to Majali, the proposed by-law has the power of a law as it is based on Article 120 of the Constitution. 

Masri highlighted the main features of the municipalities bill, noting that the decentralisation by-law will become part and parcel of that law and include more oversight and accountability mechanisms. 

Under the proposed law, municipalities can form coalitions and implement joint projects, he added.