I was among the lucky seven who were invited on Wednesday to have an audience with His Majesty King Abdullah at Al Husseiniya Palace. Before His Majesty’s entrance to the meeting room, we were briefed by both Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi and Director General of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) Maj. Gen. Ahmad Hosni on our foreign relations and home security respectively.
اضافة اعلان
The message both wanted to communicate that our regional and international relations are reassuring, and Jordan’s security is well safeguarded. The main challenge is to stave off drug trafficking, which is now an organized criminal activity championed primarily by terrorist organizations seeking to supplement their income in order to maintain their criminal activities.
The GID director also sent an important message: “We are fully comfortable and supportive of the political reform and the Royal committee’s recommendations. It is better to reorganize our administrative and economic profile to create more jobs. This success would help us face challenges which could emanate from high unemployment and poverty.”
Hurrah. This kind of coordination has succeeded in creating common grounds among seemingly antagonistic departments. By creating this synergy, reform can be made and forged ahead.
The King raised key issues. There is no such thing as economic and bureaucratic reform without political reform. All of them constitute an integral pursuit, and the three should proceed hand in hand.
Tribalism is not what we want as a basis for our political structure, but tribes are an intrinsic social institution and tribes have played a major role in maintaining our security and continuity. Adnan Abu Odeh emphasized that we need to remember that political parties of the past used to be branches of foreign-based ones with ideologies which had been proved wrong or unsustainable.
“The Palestinian issue and the quest for peace are high on our agenda,” the King said. Currently, the US administration is focused on China, but once the Israeli budget threshold is passed, we shall gain more confidence that an Israeli peace partner could be found.
On the issue of regional relations, His Majesty was especially complementary to President Abdelfattah El-Sisi of Egypt “with whom I have developed an excellent rapport”. He said the same about Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. Both are cooperating to deal with the Lebanese energy crisis, the realignment of relations with Syria, are and fully involved in resolving regional wars and disputes in our troubled region.
His Majesty also voiced his appreciation for the empathy which our international friends have exuded towards Jordan. He specifically mentioned the US, Japan, the EU, the World Bank Group, and the International Monetary Fund, among others. Our relations with Russia are streamlined. We need to engage with Turkey, and with Iran in order to put an end to all the blood-shed in countries like Yemen and Libya, and to focus on fighting terrorism.
There was a lively debate. We, as guests, had an opportunity to interact and fully express our opinions. Until our next meeting, His Majesty will have made trips to Qatar and European destinations, and we shall be eager to listen to what new revelations the future days will bear.
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