Economy, combating graft take centre stage on second day of gov't policy discussions

AMMAN — The Lower House on Monday resumed discussions of the government’s policy statement, which Prime Minister Hani Mulki delivered last week, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

At Sunday's session, 13 deputies spoke. The 130-strong House had decided earlier to allocate 15 minutes to each deputy and 30 minutes to each bloc to take the podium.

During Monday's session, lawmakers focused mainly on issues related to the economy and combating corruption.

Some deputies agreed that the government's policy statement lacks new ideas to salvage the economy, and, thus, the government will most likely resort to the citizens' pockets by increasing taxes and prices and lifting subsidies.

The MPs' discussions also focused on issues related to tourism in the Kingdom and on how corruption is the main hindrance against development, which means the government should take measures to combat and "uproot" graft.

MP Barakat Nimer (Amman, 5th District) called for combating corruption and achieving development in tourism, health, education and energy, voicing demands to fix transportation issues in the capital and build a hospital and a police station in Wadi Seer district. 

For his part, Deputy Faisal Aawar (Zarqa, 1st District), said that corrupt individuals abuse the financial needs of the citizens, highlighting the Wadi Musa incident when protesters were demanding swift government action to retrieve their money from individuals who conned them into giving substantial amounts of money to implement fraudulent investments last year.

He also highlighted the importance of excluding remote areas from the "turn-based system" at the Civil Service Bureau and called for "banning protests at universities to protect students' rights to learn". 

MP Nabil Ghishan (Madaba) said the government's policy statement was comprehensive in form and content but did not provide anything new, describing it as summaries of previous ministerial statements and a reminder of forgotten strategies and plans. 

He also said that the statement lacked any practical programme that can be implemented in reality. 

After lawmakers conclude their discussions of the policy statement, they are expected to vote on granting it confidence.

According to the Constitution, the government has to gain the confidence of 50 per cent plus one of the Lower House, which is at least 66 deputies.

Observers expect a government win with a comfortable margin.