House speaker briefs European parliamentarians on Jordan reforms

Lower House Speaker Saad Hayel Srour on Saturday briefed a European parliamentary team on Jordan’s achievements along the path of comprehensive political reform.He told members of the Committee on the Middle East of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that the reform process had commenced with unprecedented constitutional amendments as well as the revamping and passage of a host of laws regulating political life in the Kingdom.The legislation package, he noted, is meant to empower Jordanians and expand popular participation in decision-making to take the country to a new phase in which to pursue the building, modernisation and development process and enhance the democratic course.Srour also spoke about His Majesty King Abdullah’s support of the Middle East peace process and his efforts to bring about comprehensive and lasting peace, stressing that the Palestinian cause is the core issue in the region.He said the world community should continue to press Palestinians and Israelis to go back to the negotiating table to tackle all final status issues towards setting up an independent Palestinian state on national Palestinian soil with East Jerusalem as its capital.The Lower House Speaker also spoke about the “accelerating” developments in Syria and said Jordan backed a political solution in its neighbour to stop the bloodshed and safeguard the unity of the country and its people.Srour cautioned that the escalating violence would jeopardize the stability of the entire region, referring to the growing burden on the Kingdom resulting from an influx of Syrian refugees into the Kingdom. He valued aid provided by world nations, including European Union members, to Jordan, urging more relief assistance to Syrian refugees in the Kingdom.The European parliamentarians hailed Jordan’s efforts to achieve tangible results in political reform, expressing support for its role to attain regional peace and stability.