King Abdullah II of Jordan
DOHA: The reforms in Jordan are aimed at creating a parliamentary system based on matured political parties, King Abdullah of Jordan has said.
In an interview with Al Sharq, the King said, “The reforms in Jordan are on track. Our ambition has no limits despite the challenges and difficulties we are facing.” He said the ultimate goal of the reforms was “to deepen democratisation and public participation in decision making by introducing a parliamentary system of government.”
“We want to reach the stage in which parliament members are elected on party basis and those who win the majority can form the government. The minority will play an active role by monitoring the performance of the government and proposing alternative programmes,” said King Abdullah.
“To reach this we need to pass through a number of parliamentary rounds to create matured political parties,” he added.
This will also require reforms in legislation and encouraging democratic practices using dialogue as a tool in solving problems, respecting diversity.
“Reforms in Jordan began before the Arab Spring and it will go beyond that. We in Jordan believe in well planned and gradual development,” said the King.
On Qatar-Jordan relations King Abdullah said, “We have strong ties and we are looking forward to further strengthening our relations and cooperation in different areas in a way that serves our people and the Arab nations.” He said the Arab Summit will be a good opportunity to build on the friendly relations and discuss various bilateral issues.
He said the Doha summit had come at a time when the Arab, Muslim countries were facing serious challenges.
“We need to coordinate our efforts to enable joint Arab efforts and consolidate cooperation among the Arabs to eliminate the negative impact of these challenges. I hope the Doha summit will be a historical event that will set a mechanism for joint Arab work towards a number of important issues such as energy, water, environment and pollution, poverty, unemployment, development, rising extremism and the deteriorating conditions in some countries that is threatening the stability of their neighbours and the region as a whole,” said the king.
On the Syrian crisis, he said Jordan had called for dialogue before the situation deteriorated and now it had gone out of control.
“Now the crisis has entered its third year and the humanitarian crisis and the destruction are horrible. The most painful part is that the social fabric of the Syrians has been destroyed,” said the king.
“We have been putting pressure for a political transition, to keep Syria united and stop the blood shed,” he added.
He said despite Jordan’s limited resources, the country is still receiving hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. It is important to increase Arab and international support for the Syrian refugees in Jordan.
He called on the international community to intensify efforts for a peaceful solution to the Israeli -Palestinian conflict, adding that the peace process has been stalled due to the Israeli obstinacy and the continuing Israeli settlements.
Asked about the American role in the peace process, King Abdullah said: “No doubt the US role is significant in supporting the peace process and the Americans have expressed their desire for a two-state solution. I expect President Obama in his second term will play a significant role in making some progress in the peace process.”
“From out part we are working with our brothers and the European partners to encourage the Americans to play their role in the peace process. During my last meeting with President Obama I felt his desire to support efforts to achieve peace,” he added.
The Peninsula
