AMMAN - The National Front for Reform (NFR) on Friday said it would publish a study soon over the proposed amendments to the Constitution, with a focus on the basic law's ability to protect the independence of the legislative power.
"The Constitution set the system of government in Jordan as parliamentary with a hereditary monarchy, which means it is parliamentary in the first place," former prime minister and head of the pro-reform coalition, Ahmad Obeidat, said in a lecture at the Professional Associations Complex on Friday night.
Reform in Jordan must be based on real and strong amendments to the Constitution, noted Obeidat, who has also served as the head of the General Intelligence Department.
He rejected the amendments recommended by the Royal committee tasked with revisiting the Constitution as insufficient.
He announced that in two weeks, the NFR will reveal the outcomes of its study on the amendments made by the panel.
The changes to the Constitution have not been officially announced, but they were leaked to local media outlets. They will be presented to His Majesty King Abdullah today and key members of the committee will hold a press conference Tuesday to discuss the details.
However, Obeidat stressed that the NFR is not concerned with criticising the committee, but it believes that the amendments are too important to be endorsed without a real debate over them.
The NFR, which was launched in May this year to promote the "rule of law" in the Kingdom, comprises several political parties such as the Islamic Action Front, the Jordanian Communist Party, the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party (Wihda) and the country's two Baathist groups among other parties which represent leftists and women activists.
Constitutional amendments, government accountability, combating corruption, new economic policies, redefining the role of security agencies, judicial reforms, press freedoms and revisiting the education system are the main cornerstones of the NFR, according to a statement released by the coalition.
The NFR believes in peaceful means to make changes in the political, economic and legislative fields in the Kingdom, Obeidat added.
© Jordan Times 2011
