Published: Oct 18, 2011 23:14 Updated: Oct 18, 2011 23:14
AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdallah on Tuesday issued directives to the newly-appointed head of the General Intelligence Department to support political reform and carry out “modernization” of the country’s top security apparatus.In a letter to Gen. Faisal Shoubaki, the monarch said the development process should find expression in showing “due systematic and institutional respect for the country’s laws, human rights and personal freedoms.”
Abdallah on Monday appointed Shoubaki as new intelligence chief in what appeared as a shakeup of the state’s top posts that also involved picking International Court of Justice judge, Awn Khasawneh as new prime minister.
“The regional and local circumstances through which you take up the responsibility of this pioneering security establishment require the adoption of a national culture of openness, transparency and accountability,” the king said, referring to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that inspired months of demonstrations in Jordan and other Arab countries. The monarch asked Khasawneh to open dialogue with all political parties and ensure the enactment of a new election law that leads to a lower house truly representative of the people.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s main opposition political party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), said Tuesday it was awaiting the program and composition of the new Cabinet to decide its stance on the change or any offers to join the new government.
“The important thing is not who goes and who comes, but rather how the Cabinet is formed and what program it adopts,” the IAF Secretary-General Hamzeh Mansour told Arab News.
For the past four years, Bakhit has been at loggerheads with the IAF and its mother group, the Muslim Brotherhood, which accused him of rigging the 2007 general elections to cripple the opposition’s presence at the House of Representatives.
“We want a program with a timetable for bringing the country out of its present crisis and returning back powers to the people,” Mansour said.
Asked about the possibility of his party joining the new Cabinet, the IAF chief replied: “The answer is neither yes nor no.” “Our stance will depend on the composition of the ministerial team and their action program.”
In his inaugural statement to the local media, Khasawneh offered to include conservatives in his Cabinet. “I will be open to the opposition with the aim of reaching compromise over various files of political reform in the country,” he said.
“I consider myself a friend for all and the new government will extend its hands to all citizens without discrimination, with the assertion that fairness will be one of the criteria for choosing ministers,” he added.
Abdallah on Monday appointed Shoubaki as new intelligence chief in what appeared as a shakeup of the state’s top posts that also involved picking International Court of Justice judge, Awn Khasawneh as new prime minister.
“The regional and local circumstances through which you take up the responsibility of this pioneering security establishment require the adoption of a national culture of openness, transparency and accountability,” the king said, referring to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that inspired months of demonstrations in Jordan and other Arab countries. The monarch asked Khasawneh to open dialogue with all political parties and ensure the enactment of a new election law that leads to a lower house truly representative of the people.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s main opposition political party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), said Tuesday it was awaiting the program and composition of the new Cabinet to decide its stance on the change or any offers to join the new government.
“The important thing is not who goes and who comes, but rather how the Cabinet is formed and what program it adopts,” the IAF Secretary-General Hamzeh Mansour told Arab News.
For the past four years, Bakhit has been at loggerheads with the IAF and its mother group, the Muslim Brotherhood, which accused him of rigging the 2007 general elections to cripple the opposition’s presence at the House of Representatives.
“We want a program with a timetable for bringing the country out of its present crisis and returning back powers to the people,” Mansour said.
Asked about the possibility of his party joining the new Cabinet, the IAF chief replied: “The answer is neither yes nor no.” “Our stance will depend on the composition of the ministerial team and their action program.”
In his inaugural statement to the local media, Khasawneh offered to include conservatives in his Cabinet. “I will be open to the opposition with the aim of reaching compromise over various files of political reform in the country,” he said.
“I consider myself a friend for all and the new government will extend its hands to all citizens without discrimination, with the assertion that fairness will be one of the criteria for choosing ministers,” he added.
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