King urges more effective Lower House performance

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed the need to solve all problems hindering the performance of the Lower House, especially the frequent lack of quorum.

During a meeting with House Speaker Atef Tarawneh and heads of parliamentary committees, His Majesty also stressed the importance of endorsing a code of conduct to regulate the lawmakers' performance, according to a Royal Court statement.

The King underlined the pivotal role of the House’s permanent committees in institutionalising the legislature's performance and accelerating the endorsement of laws, the statement said.  

His Majesty also emphasised the need for more dialogue and consultation between the legislative and executive authorities on a set of key reform-related laws, especially the decentralisation and municipalities laws due to their significance in enhancing local development, the statement said.

He stressed that improving citizens’ living conditions, creating job opportunities, and lowering poverty and unemployment rates are top priorities, underlying the importance of partnership of all concerned agencies towards that end.

Challenges facing the national economy, mainly energy, and the role of the House in suggesting solutions to the government were also discussed during the meeting.

His Majesty underlined the importance of lending more attention to the country’s key sectors, especially agriculture, which, he said, requires a cohesive strategy put forward by all stakeholders to solve all the sector’s woes, the statement said.

Commenting on the latest regional and international developments, King Abdullah noted that Jordan is maintaining constant communication and coordination with all concerned Arab and international parties to address the challenges facing the Middle East region.

He described Jordan’s northern border with Syria as “safe and secured,” expressing his full confidence in the abilities of the Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army and other security bodies to safeguard the Kingdom’s security and stability.

The King also said that Jordan’s participation in the Arab military coalition in Yemen came to protect the legitimacy and prevent foreign interference in the crisis-hit Arab country. He said the move came in response to an official request from Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. King Abdullah also reiterated that Jordan’s war against terrorism is in defence of Islam and the core values of humanity, adding that defeating the “outlaws of the present” requires a comprehensive military, security and intellectual strategy.

The Monarch noted that the security and stability of the Arab Gulf states is inseparable from Jordan’s security and lies at the heart of the Kingdom’s top strategic interests, the statement said.

On the situation in Iraq, he voiced the Kingdom’s full support to the Iraqi government’s war against radicalism and terrorist gangs to enhance the security of the Arab country and safeguard its territorial unity.

He called for a comprehensive political solution to the Syrian war that can end the Syrians’ suffering and preserve the territorial unity of their country.

Regarding the peace process, the King warned against the delay in arriving at a just and lasting solution to the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict, calling for more international efforts to revive peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The King also reiterated the centrality of the Palestinian cause, describing the two-state solution as an irreversible formula to end the decades-old struggle.

During the meeting, Tarawneh presented a briefing on the House’s achievements during the previous stage, saying that the Chamber would be working on improving its performance.

For their parts, heads of the parliamentary committees thanked the King for the meeting, presenting briefings on their work mechanism and achievements, and the dialogues they organised with concerned parties on a variety of laws.  

They also tackled the laws that need to be completed during the next stage, agreeing with His Majesty on the urgency of the decentralisation and municipalities laws.

They also underlined the importance of legislative stability of law, especially economic laws, citing their advantage on stimulating the national economy and attracting investments, the statement said.

Lawmakers also called for balancing the public and capital spending in a way to create job opportunities and improve the living conditions of citizens.

On the country’s energy challenge and its consequences on the state budget, the MPs called for utilising renewable energy sources.

They also called for including the challenges facing the print media sector and financial woes of country’s major newspapers on the agenda of the government to be addressed through a comprehensive plan.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said the government would take into consideration all comments raised during the meeting and would follow up on them with the House.