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After King’s speech, time to work out solutions — analysts

By Renad Aljadid - Oct 15,2018 - Last updated at Oct 15,2018

In his Speech from the Throne, the King stressed that Jordan is a citizen-centric state of law and a productive state guided by a noble mission (Photo courtesy of Royal Court)

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah’s speech on Sunday included important hints and suggestions for a better Jordan that the government should make use of, analysts and politicians told The Jordan Times on Monday, adding that the diagnosis stage is over, and "now is the time for finding and implementing solutions".

They stressed that the government should take serious and concrete measures to fight corruption, which was a major topic in several of the latest Royal speeches and the cornerstone to rebuilding trust between the government and citizens.  

In his Speech from the Throne at the third ordinary session of the 18th Parliament, King Abdullah stressed that Jordan is a citizen-centric state of law and a productive state guided by a noble mission.

Jamal Al Shalabi, a professor of political science at the Hashemite University told The Jordan Times over the phone that strengthening the rule of law and initiating creative solutions to the citizens’ struggles are two important pillars in following the roadmap that His Majesty drew for a better Jordan.

“The country has witnessed several attacks and news of graft cases recently, so fighting corruption as His Majesty directed and affirming the rule of law is key to setting a role model to citizens to be a part of the reform phase,” Shalabi said. 

The King cited a gap of trust between the government and citizens as the reason behind “an atmosphere of scepticism that leads to frustration and withdrawal”. Politician Maen Shamaileh stressed the necessity of establishing a new approach to encourage citizens’ involvement.

“Citizens will be more understanding and open to new decisions if they take part in the decision making process,” Shamaileh, who is also a researcher, told The Jordan Times on Monday, adding that the professional associations and civil society organisations are vital partners whose expertise should be utilised.

He also recommended holding "real" open dialogues and discussions with citizens over the issues that affect their lives directly, as not all citizens are necessarily affiliated with representative groups like political parties, associations or civil society organisations.

Musa Shteiwi, the director of the University of Jordan’s Centre of Strategic Studies, told The Jordan Times over the phone that building trust requires offering better and more transparent governmental services to citizens and ending the phenomena of nepotism and intermediary “wasta”.   

He added that holding open dialogues with citizens is not as easy as it sounds, explaining: “The government cannot talk with each citizen, but their participation should be through representative channels including the Parliament, parties, civil society organisations, associations, in addition to youth groups or initiatives.”

Shteiwi also said the media should highlight Jordan’s achievements and render a real image of the situation to citizens to encourage them to participate effectively in reforms.

A report by RASED, a programme of accountability, governance and participation under Al Hayat Centre for Civil Society Development, has analysed the most repeated words in the royal speech, which they said were crucial for the coming phase.

These words were: the state (14 times), working (8 times), homeland (6 times), services (6 times) and economy (5 times). 

Shalabi stressed that His Majesty’s speech was “a powerful and optimistic message to people inside and outside Jordan in light of the difficult social, economic and regional circumstances that the country is going through. The King highlighted that even if there are some challenges, there are also achievements and prospects for development”. 

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