His Majesty King Abdullah II on Sunday said he expected the government to conduct the next parliamentary elections according to legislation compatible with the National Dialogue Committee’s recommendations concerning the elections and political parties laws.
In a televised address to the nation on the occasion of the anniversary of the Great Arab Revolt, Army Day and Coronation Day, King Abdullah said that new political legislation should “guarantee the fairness and transparency of the electoral process through a mechanism that will lead to a parliament with active political party representation [and] one that allows the formation of governments based on parliamentary majority and political party manifestos in the future.”
The King said the government will also be instructed to hold new municipal elections based on new legislation that can guarantee greater representation for local communities and serve citizens more efficiently and fairly. He said this was a “key ingredient” for the implementation of the national decentralization plan, which envisions the establishment of municipal councils to increase public participation in decision-making and the identification of local priorities.
The process of reform started with the National Dialogue Committee, the King said, in order to end the impression that certain groups had a monopoly on reform. He said that national consensus enhances reforms, and so long as Jordanians agree on the substance of reform, there is no need for appeasement or capitulation to the conditions of any current.
In his address, King Abdullah also urged Jordanians to “distinguish between those democratic transformations that take us towards the desired reform and the exploitation of [that reform] in the interests of partisan or factional agendas that steer [Jordan] away from national consensus and comprehensive reform.”
The King also warned of the “deterioration of political and media discourse into [a discourse] that triggers hatred and infringement on the freedom of Jordanians, their dignity or national unity”. He said Jordan requires a media “that can carry the message of freedom and reform, optimise the accomplishments of our country and protect national unity.
King Abdullah said Jordanians’ sense of national belonging “is the determinant of our national identity, where the rights and duties of citizenship are embedded, regardless of ethnic background and origin, religious belief or political affiliations” and that all Jordanian citizens are equal in rights and duties in a country where “no one is favoured over another except in his dedication to the nation”.
The King said Jordan is “firm in the fight against corruption in all its forms” but that slander and character assassination in the name of fighting corruption had damaged both the reputations of honest and innocent citizens and Jordan’s reputation as a whole.