His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday stressed the need for collective efforts to step up the drive towards comprehensive reform.

During a meeting with Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members of the Islamic Action Front, King Abdullah said the government must work hand in hand with Parliament, political parties and civil society institutions to achieve political reform.

The King urged all parties to “take effective and tangible steps to achieve political reform” that leads to people's active participation in decision making, he said.

King Abdullah said the envisioned economic reform hinges on genuine political reform.

In the Letter of Designation appointing Marouf Bakhit as premier earlier this week, the King said the new government should “take practical, speedy and tangible steps to launch real political reform”, to achieve comprehensive modernisation and development.

During the meeting, attended by Royal Court Chief Nasser Lozi, the King reiterated that the pace of reform had too often stumbled and slowed, at great cost to the country. He attributed set backs to the fact that some put personal interests before public interests, narrow-minded arguments, fear of change and reluctance to take decisions among those persons assigned responsibility to do so.

The King reiterated that comprehensive reform must be translated into practical steps through serious reform policies. He stressed that Jordan would not be pressured by any power that rejects reform to “safeguard their personal interests and to serve their special agenda and narrow goals”.

The King said he expects the new government to begin immediately implementing the directives outlined in the Designation Letter, especially in terms of the formulation of an institutional mechanism for a comprehensive national dialogue within a set time frame.

King Abdullah also requested Bakhit to forward his recommendations concerning a national dialogue that engages the various components of society to reach a consensus over a new elections law.

In the statement, the Islamist movement's delegates said the King showed understanding of all their concerns and “expressed a genuine interest in reform that leads to a new and different stage”.