AMMAN - The government is expected to present its policy statement to the Parliament on Tuesday, a senior official said.
State Minister for Media and Communications Nasser Judeh said after the Cabinet meeting yesterday that the statement, which the new government will present to the lawmakers ahead of a vote of confidence, will be based on the Letter of Designation and the Speech from the Throne, which His Majesty King Abdullah delivered as he inaugurated Parliament's ordinary session on Sunday.
Earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali said, following a meeting with Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, the statement would be delivered "within a week".
The speaker and the premier agreed the House will begin deliberating the policy statement before it embarks on discussing the state budget for 2008, Majali was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying.
Dahabi was named prime minister late last month, replacing Marouf Bakhit who remained at the helm of the executive branch for nearly two years.
He heads a team of 27 ministers with the main task of pulling the economy from its doldrums and improving living conditions of citizens, a goal which His Majesty described as top priority in the coming stage, which is expected to see fuel subsidies fully lifted and subsequent harsher living conditions.
In the Letter of Designation, King Abdullah directed the government to offset the consequences of rising oil prices through a social safety network and linking incomes to the inflation rate, which stood in 2006 at six per cent.
The network would cover education, health and housing. In the Sunday speech, the King said 2008 should be the "year of housing" that would see thousands of housing units built for low- and limited-income segments, including government schoolteachers, to be offered at affordable instalments.
The policy statement is expected to focus on political reforms as well.
Observers forecast Dahabi will easily gain the trust of a House dominated by tribal figures and independents, with minimal representation from the opposition after the defeat of the Islamists in the November 20 polls. According to some estimates, the premier, who enjoys a good track record, would break the 100-vote limit in the vote of confidence.
House Deputy Speaker Mamdouh Abbadi (Amman, 3rd District) told The Jordan Times yesterday he expects that Dahabi's road to House confidence would be smooth.
He attributed this to the fact the new premier and his team are mainly "technocrats with a good reputation".
He added that most likely, the Cabinet would base the Letter of Designation as the basis of its policy statement. The Royal letter, he said, said it all and set the pillars of government action for the coming stage.
The meeting between Dahabi and Majali comes in line with a new trend to smoothen relations between the two authorities, which were strained during the 2003-2007 Parliament.
"I found great understanding from [Dahabi] on the importance of a genuine partnership relation between the executive and legislative authorities based on complementing each other," Majali was quoted by Petra as saying.
Abbadi noted that even incumbent lawmakers do not look at the legacy of the outgoing government favourably.
During his Speech from the Throne, the King criticised the previous Parliament as well as former governments for impeding reform policies.
"I have noted that in years past, the government has not implemented all the projects and plans required of them, in spite of the availability of the necessary funding for these projects. On the other hand, the legislature hampered the government's work by delaying the endorsement of requisite legislation."
Meanwhile, the House convenes today to elect its 14 committees and refer a number of legislations to the concerned committees.
Several veteran deputies have been holding meetings with new MPs in hope of reaching a consensus on certain high-profile committees, mainly the financial, legal, education and foreign relation panels, according to parliamentary sources.
The Lower House' permanent office has notified deputies to register their names as nominees for committees prior to Wednesday session.
On Sunday, deputies elected Abdul Hadi Majali as speaker and Abbadi as his first deputy.
The Parliament is also scheduled to refer a number of legislations to concerned committees for study and recommendation including the free zones draft law, which has been given urgent status.
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
© Jordan Times 2007
