In separate replies to His Majesty King Abdullah’s Speech from the Throne, the two Houses of Parliament on Thursday underlined that achieving political reform is today’s top priority.

In a ceremony at Raghadan Palace, deputies and senators pledged to draft all remaining laws related the reform process in full cooperation with the government and civil society.

In their responses, which echoed the guidelines listed in the Speech from the Throne delivered at the opening of Parliament’s second ordinary session last week, members of both Chambers stressed that the legislative framework for reform is not yet complete and that other laws need to be enacted, including the elections and political parties laws as well as legislation governing the projected constitutional court and independent commission to oversee the parliamentary elections.

They also noted that parliamentary government is the ultimate goal of reform, underlying that in addition to the strong political will expressed by the King, this goal requires the gradual building of a strong political system based on parliamentary pluralism and political diversity.

They also noted that, as a starting point towards parliamentary government, they will work on enhancing the “inclusive consultative approach to government formation” that the King introduced in his speech.

In addition, the two Houses stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to combat corruption, highlighting the importance of empowering the Anti-Corruption Commission.