Transcript
The Will to Reform: Minister Al-Ali emphasized King Abdullah's role in promoting political, economic, and social reform in Jordan since his accession to the throne in 1999. She argued that 1989 was the lowest point in Jordan's economic fortunes. Since then, with the help of the IMF, Jordan's economy has significantly improved. King Abdullah has helped that growth process through his emphasis on privatization.
Jordan's two main economic problems, Minister Al-Ali argued, are the large public sector and unemployment. Consequently, the king's efforts have focused on job creation and privatization. He started a private/public partnership for business and set up the Economic Consultative Council, consisting of 10 members of the private sector and 10 members of the public sector to develop a reform program. The Council has been a great success, to the point that it has made itself obsolete because its recommendations have been implemented.
To combat the problems in the labor market, Jordan has embarked on education reform. In order to create a more attractive labor force for future foreign investors, Jordanian children are now taught English as a second language as well as computer skills in the classroom from a very early age. The most recent statistics show that Jordan has spent 12% of GDP on education. This emphasis on investing in education as well as the political will for reform is what differentiates Jordan from other countries in the region, she said.
The success of Jordan's economic and social reforms is visible in the macroeconomic data, Minister Al-Ali argued. She pointed to such statistics as the real GDP growth rate last year of 7.7%, consumer price inflation falling below 3%, and the literacy rate exceeding 90%. However, despite these positive numbers, Jordan faces many challenges including high unemployment and poverty rates and moderate per capita income. Jordan is also confronting the steep rise in the price of oil at a time when it is losing access to grants of oil from other Middle Eastern states. Jordan has to import all of its oil requirement.
In recognition of the need for a stronger governance structure in Jordan, the government set up a committee consisting of all sectors of society—public, private, civil society groups, women's groups—to devise a means of bringing more people into the governance structure. The committee is tasked with devising a scheme for political and economic reform over the next 10 years. This new policy will be released in September 2005. This scheme will address eight pillars including investment, infrastructure, social welfare, labor, the financial sector, and education. The scheme will contain benchmarks and key performance indicators. Minister Al-Ali stressed the need for funding for this project from the United States and other donors.
Another political reform that Jordan is undertaking is an anti-corruption initiative. There is currently a bill in the works to establish an anti-corruption commission that is independent and has the authority to pursue any person in the government. The law covers "wasta" cases (i.e. nepotism) and is built on the idea that Jordan will also establish an independent judiciary to aid in preventing corruption. One participant commended Jordan's efforts to end corruption, but questioned how Jordan could be expected to take on such a difficult problem. Minister Al-Ali again emphasized the strong political will of King Abdullah and the parliament to see this through.
The current Jordanian political system fails to address many local issues. To combat this problem, regional development councils are being set up throughout the country. These councils are not meant to replace the governance structure at the local level, but rather will consist of elected individuals who will work solely on local issues. The aim of these councils is to establish a bottom-up process that will give the Jordanian people ownership over the political system.
Minister Al-Ali also mentioned the possibility of a new electoral law and a new law on political parties coming into force before the 2007 elections. There is a need, she argued, to consolidate the current large number of political parties into a smaller number of stronger parties. There has also been an increasing emphasis on women's empowerment in the political arena. Currently Jordan uses a quota system to appoint women to parliament. Minister Al-Ali noted that in order for women to win elections, there needs to be a change in the culture and education of men and women in Jordanian society. Because the Jordanian people are not ready to elect women, the quota system was established to guarantee six seats for women in parliament. At the same time, grassroots level efforts, such as a change in the educational curricula regarding the role of women, and awareness campaigns, are being used to change misperceptions of women in the public sphere.
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