Merging, cancelling of commissions 'require amendments' — Adaileh

AMMAN — The decisions and procedures announced by the government regarding the merging and cancellation of various independent commissions are tied to legal procedures that require law amendments, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said on Wednesday. 

Adaileh stressed that the merging and the cancellation require completing legal and constitutional procedures as part of a comprehensive process the government has undertaken since the Cabinet issued the decision, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Legislation and Opinion Bureau President for the Cabinet Fidaa Hmoud said that merging the Jordan Hijaz Railway Corporation (JHRC) into the Ministry of Transport “does not contradict” the Constitution and “does not affect” the nature of the waqf (Islamic endowment).

Referring to Article 107 of the Constitution on waqf affairs, Hmoud said that a merger requires an amendment to the Transport Law, which adds a special text to create an account or independent fund for organising the affairs of the railway. 

Article 107 reads: “The organisation of the affairs of Muslim Waqfs and the administration of their financial matters, among other matters, shall be regulated by a special law.”

Hmoud stressed that merging the JHRC with the Transport Ministry “does not change” the legal status of the corporation, being a waqf, as long as this procedure is mentioned in the law, so as to conform to the Constitution. 

While announcing the second executive package to improve the national economy, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Monday said that to address managerial and administrative shortcomings, eight institutions have been either merged with other entities or cancelled altogether, and that ministries have one month to organise these changes.

The institutions include the Jordan Meteorological Department, which has been merged with the Ministry of Transport as one of its directorates, the Water Authority of Jordan, which has been merged with the Water Ministry and the Securities Depository Centre, which has been suspended with its tasks relayed to the Jordan Securities Commission and the Amman Bourse.