AMMAN — A poll has shown a drop in citizens’ approval rates of the government of Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh’s performance, especially in dealing with
COVID-19.
اضافة اعلان
The report, compiled by Rased
Center for Civil Society Development, covers the first six months since the inception of the government, which assumed office amid a health crisis brought about by the pandemic.
The approval rate dropped from 47.1 percent during the first 100 days of the government’s tenure, down to 31 percent three months later, while the percentage of those who are not satisfied with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic increased after six months to reach 42.9 percent, compared with 28.9 percent of Jordanians recorded after the Cabinet’s first 100 days.
Comparing the performance of Khasawneh’s government with that of the previous the government, the survey found that the incumbent administration made 171 commitments, of which only 10 percent were completed, while the previous premier announced 114 commitments, of which 15.7 percent were completed within the first six months. Additionally, Khasawneh’s government issued 155 decisions, compared to Razzaz’ government, which issued 198 decisions in the same period.
With regard to government decisions, Khasawneh’s government has taken a total of 155 decisions within six months of its formation. These decisions can be classified into the following major categories: Legislative (29 percent); financial and economic (23.9 percent); administrative (17.4 percent); international agreements, treaties, and appointments (11 percent); and development and services (7.7 percent).
In the context of analyzing the obligations of the Khasawneh government, 55 percent of the commitments focused on development and services, followed by the economic reform at 22 percent, administrative reform and combating corruption at 12 percent, rule of law and human rights at 5 percent, foreign affairs at 3 percent, political reform at 2 percent, while transparency and support of the media stood at 1 percent of the total commitments.
Amer Bani Amer, founder and general manager of the watchdog, told Jordan News that the report “relied on an opinion poll targeting a representative sample that included 2,140 citizens distributed over all the governorates.”
The results showed that 6.8 percent of Jordanians believe that the Khasawneh’s government is able to assume its responsibilities efficiently, while 22.8 percent of Jordanians believe that Cabinet is able to fulfill its responsibilities adequately, while 70.4 percent of Jordanians saw that the Cabinet has weak capabilities or incapable of assuming its responsibilities.
Regarding the government’s transparency and ensuring people access to information, 4.7 percent of Jordanians believe that the government practiced it extensively, while 18.4 percent think that the government practiced it in a moderately. However, 76.9 percent of respondents were of the opinion that the government either made weak or no efforts regarding transparency and access to information.
On the government’s handling of work and employment, 2.7 percent of respondents said they were highly satisfied, 13 percent said they were moderately satisfied, 25.1 percent said they were mildly satisfied, and 59.1 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Bani Amer said that the government had not published any clear strategy to be tracked within a specific time, and Rased’s team sent many messages to the Prime Ministry in order to obtain a copy of this strategy, but to no avail.
Executive Director of the
Jordanian Transparency Center Hilda Ajilat said that these percentages were not shocking, as she believes that the reality is worse. Ajilat believes that there are many reasons for the decline in government performance, including the “unjustified” defense laws and orders, the retreat in the health sector, the Salt Hospital incident (where several people died in an oxygen outage), the lack of clear strategies, the absence of consensus among top government officials as evidenced by the numerous resignations, and finally depriving civil society institutions and the media from partaking in decision making.
MP Omar Al-Ayasrah, a member of the National Guidance and Media and Parliamentary Culture Committee at the Lower House, said that government’s low performance is attributed to its weak transparency.
Read more National
.jpg)
.jpg)
