AMMAN — Pundits were quick to react to His
Majesty
King Abdullah’s comprehensive letter to Jordanians that was released on
Sunday on His Majesty’s 60th birthday. There was agreement that the letter
presented a road-map and a national vision that requires intensive efforts to
reinforce the Kingdom’s strength and address its weaknesses.
اضافة اعلان
Director of
Al-Quds Center for Political Studies
Oraib Al-Rintawi told
Jordan News that the letter is important because it presented an accurate diagnosis of the
current reality, as felt by citizens, which points to national despair,
frustration, negativity, and a gap between citizens and their government.
Rintawi said that the government is the one that
must carry out the Royal vision contained in the letter since it is the body
responsible for implementing policies. He added that the government should stop
hesitating, improve its performance and services, and have a deep, transparent,
and honest dialogue with the public and the media.
Moreover, Rintawi said that the government must
include fresh minds into the political sphere, since the King outlined national
priorities.
“The main issue here is that it is about time for
the state to understand that we need to pump new blood into the country’s
veins, allow political minds into the institutions, and not settle for an army
of administrators, bureaucrats, and employees,” he said.
Political commentator and Chairman of
NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions Fares Braizat told
Jordan News that the country
needs the clear vision that the King spoke of in his letter.
Most importantly, Braizat said, the government needs
a clear economic vision to engender an open, free, and competitive economy that
enables companies and individuals to compete freely while omitting all kinds of
existing monopolies in the market.
Braizat underlined the importance of the points made
by the King, like the need to improve the education sector, end bureaucracy,
attract foreign investments, and rejuvenate local ones.
“Our main issue is unemployment; so to fix this
issue, the private sector should be expanded. But to achieve that, the
government must remove the obstacles that stand in the way of free enterprises
so they can become creative and empowered,” Braizat said.
“His Majesty spoke of bureaucracy; they [the
government] must resolve this problem. Reforming the public sector cannot
happen in the way that was dealt with for the past years,” he said.
“Current and past governments formed reform
commissions that did not provide results. There is no way that the public
sector can reform itself,” he added.
Senator Jamil Nimri told
Jordan News that the
letter urges leaving pessimism, blame, and negativity behind, and agreed that
the letter presented reality as it is. However, he emphasized the importance of
being self-critical, since the responsibility of reform falls on society as a
whole, not only on its leaders.
“We should all take a look at ourselves and think
that the responsibility falls on everyone because the leaders in the country
are the product of their society,” he said.
“If the common mentality does not change, the
mentality of leadership will neither. So we need a kind of self-revolution. If
we want to help implement the King’s vision, we should start with ourselves,”
Nimri said.
“I believe that the responsibility to advance Jordan
and get over the current reality and achieve reform is not only a decision from
above, but it is a collective will,” he added.
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