Letter accepting the resignation of Prime Minister Awn Khaswaneh

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate,

Your Excellency Awn Khasawneh,

I extend to you my best wishes of health and success. I have received your letter of resignation after six months since you formed your government and assumed the ensuing responsibilities. I underlined in my Letter of Designation to you the need to complete all the laws that reflect our vision for reform and enable us to translate this vision into facts on the ground, as soon as possible, in order to meet the aspirations of our faithful people to the envisioned political reform. And there was a necessity to enact laws which came as a result of the endorsement of Constitutional Amendments, achieved prior to the formation of your government, foremost of which was the law of the independent commission to oversee and administer elections, the elections law and the municipalities law, so that we can hold the parliamentary and municipal elections before the end of the year. There was also the political parties law and law governing the constitutional court.

I have also stressed the need to have a relationship between the government and the Parliament that features the highest level of cooperation, coordination and keenness to complete all the pieces of legislation that form the pillars of our reform process. The Letter of Designation also highlighted the need to combat and uproot all forms of corruption and refer any case of suspected corruption to the judiciary so that justice is aptly served. The law should be applied to all without any preferential treatment to any one or for any considerations because none is above the law or immune to accountability. We also stressed that economic reform should go in parallel to political reform to improve the people’s standards of living and overcome the economic challenges facing us.

Your Excellency,
I granted you and your government all the necessary powers, trust and a free hand to empower your government to carry out the tasks vested in you, hoping that the achievement would be equivalent to such authorities.

Over the past months, I have been following up the performance of the government in the various fields. I was hoping that the government would be more efficient and active in completing the laws in question in cooperation with the Lower House, but the process was marred with slowness and lethargy over these months. In our meetings, I warned against the repercussions of such a situation on the progress of the reform process. Regrettably, however, priority was given to certain laws at the expense of the key reform-related pieces of legislation. Moreover, I was surprised lately at your insistence that there was no need to extend the ordinary session of Parliament and to postpone the convening of extraordinary session for a month. New laws were added although they are of no priority at this stage, which meant that the key laws would remain lingering. This necessarily means that we cannot hold the parliamentary elections in line with our commitment because the law governing them has not been endorsed and because there are other prerequisites that are not in place, including the formation of the independent elections commission. Even there has been no decision to hold the municipal elections, which should have been conducted by now.

I have, Your Excellency, asserted on more than one occasion that we are passing through a delicate stage and that we are committed before our people and the world to realizing the envisioned reform, which is irreversible. I stressed that we do not have the luxury of time and cannot afford to delay what we are committed to achieving after we promised our people to see such promises fulfilled as facts on the ground. What has been achieved so far is less than what should have been done or hoped to be done.

Thank God, Jordan has always been and will always be in the front with the efforts of its faithful people. The achievements the country has made at all levels through its constitutional powers and national institutions are the accumulation of past achievements made throughout long years of hard work and communication between us and our dignified people. We have been working to detect their concerns and problems and working to meet their aspirations and ambitions. Such accomplishments are not restricted to a certain era.

Having tendered the resignation of your government, so that you can have time to rest, I hereby accept your resignation, extending my thanks and appreciation for what you have done for your country. Thank you and bless you all. Your Excellency, you will always be worthy of my trust, respect and appreciation.

May God bless and preserve you,

Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein
Amman, 26 April 2012