For a stable Jordan

His Majesty King Abdullah, meeting military and security senior officers and ex-servicemen after an iftar banquet held for them, discussed local and regional issues, stressing that Jordan’s resilience and stability stems from the strength and solidarity of its people.

The region is passing through trying times, beset by many challenges, the latest of which the deep division within the Gulf Cooperation Council.

While the country is safe, due to the wisdom of its leadership and people, the troubles all around it pose a real threat that can only be faced by the population’s unity, by the determination of its armed forces and rest of the citizens.

Jordan has been able to quash all the dangers facing it from within or from without because the majority of its people are united, share the same convictions and know that they must be vigilant in the face of danger, wherever it may originate from.

The challenges facing the country are multiple, and not related to security only.

The economic situation, with its visible twin outcome of poverty and unemployment, is precarious and needs to be addressed somehow.

And, as the King has repeatedly said, only through a holistic approach can challenges and dangers, including the economy, but especially terrorism, be faced.

For that, there is need for understanding at all levels: among citizens that the country needs time to recover economically, especially now when the entire world is going through hardships and the regional situation does not make it any easier for Jordan; and among decision makers that meaningful measures have to be taken to fix the economy.

Here, King Abdullah highlighted the importance of supporting the Economic and Social Association of Retired Servicemen and Veterans and enhancing its role, supporting military and security retirees and providing them with job opportunities, through a restructuring of the association in a way that supports its projects, establishes a credit portfolio to extend loans to beneficiaries and focuses on training retirees to be able to enter the labour market, thus improving their living standards.

Such projects benefit the entire country, so they should be embarked on without delay.

Since economic prosperity and security go hand in hand, modernising the military is also a top priority, as its personnel are the ones defending the internal security and the country’s borders from external threats.

His Majesty said that the priority is to modernise the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army to keep up with the latest developments and restructure the military to increase competence and efficiency, with a focus on quality rather than quantity, without compromising manpower.

With the Syrian or Iraqi situations unfortunately far from stable, the Kingdom’s military preparedness is critical.

These are difficult times, but the determination of the country’s people will help it through.