Excerpts of His Majesty King Abdullah’s Letter of Designation to Prime Minister-designate Marouf Bakhit:
â??I designate you to form a new government that would translate our vision of reform, continue work, correct what can be deemed as a defect or unintentional failure and learn lessons from shortcomings.
The aspirations of our people as well as our strategic goals to build a modern, highly-productive and competitive Jordan, where citizens are armed with knowledge, require democracy, pluralism, equal opportunity, the rule of law, openness, modernisation, public freedoms and domestic security and stability.
Our people deserve that we do exert all our efforts and dedicate our time to raise their standard of living and push them to higher levels of quality and modernisation. They closely watch what governments do in a spirit of optimism and positivism â?? which means that we should, relentlessly and unhesitatingly, go ahead with the process of production, development and reform.
The terrorist bombings that hit some facilities in our precious capital, claimed the lives of innocent citizens and left behind scores of injuries, add to our determination to adhere to our constants and irreversible approach of reform and democratisation. But at the same time, these attacks underline the need to embrace a comprehensive strategy to face the culture of takfir; a strategy that does not only adopt a security solution, but also takes into consideration the intellectual, cultural and political dimensions. This requires drafting a law to counter all forms of terrorism and wage a no-mercy war on the schools of takfir that are nourished by bigotry, backwardness and isolationism, live on the ignorance of simple and naïve people and work under the guidance of misleading fatwas and approaches.
Therefore, the government is urged to give the necessary importance to the concepts, meanings and goals of the Amman Message, especially under these circumstances. The government should carry the Amman Message to every corner in our country and to the largest portion of the Muslim world.
As we have always emphasised, reform is no longer an option, but a necessity of life for the new Jordan we want. Therefore, the government is urged, rather required, to entrench reform in its daily agenda of work, taking into consideration that democracy is a path that we shall not deviate from. As all know, democracy is a culture and a daily life practice rather than slogans raised on certain occasions. Based on that, the government should work to institutionalise the process of reform, modernisation and development. We find in the recommendations of the National Agenda and regions committees what can be considered guidelines the government can rely on to build a comprehensive reform programme that addresses all the social, economic and political aspects.
In light of the output of these two panels, the government is required to quickly draft a package of laws that, nevertheless, should cater for modernity and justice and take various variables into consideration. These laws are a new elections law, another on political parties and a third on municipalities. These laws should pave the way for us to renew our political and parliamentary life, ensure wider participation in the decision-making process and help place Jordan on the map of creative countries that are capable of interacting with and adapting to changes in light of the interests of people. This comes at a time when the winds of globalisation are blowing and competition is raging. We need productive people, free citizens, and a state of law and order to survive.
The government is also required to quickly draw up workable plans to immediately alleviate poverty and unemployment. Similarly, it is required to compile a clear, up-to-date and computerised database on poor families in the Kingdom to ensure that aid goes to those who deserve it. Poverty and unemployment are major obstacles and challenges to our ambitions â?? which requires us to join efforts to create more jobs, especially for the young, qualified and experienced people. The government also should include more and wider segments under the umbrella of health insurance and social welfare, within the available capabilities.
To ensure the confidence of Arab and foreign investors in our promising investment climate, the government is required to immediately start removing or correcting all administrative and structural defects in economy, services or facilities. It should remove obstacles placed by certain administrations and the red tape they practise for several reasons, foremost of which lack of awareness, apathy and unconvincing misinterpretations of the law. It should be noted here that it is important to revisit the [Income] Tax Law in a way that would ensure justice, boost investments, prevent tax evasion and beef up the treasury.
Like the previous government, it is also the job of this government to work seriously and responsibly to combat corruption and nepotism. It should fight, with no leniency, delay or reluctance, the corrupt and those who spread false accusations with the aim of character assassination.â?Â