AMMAN — Little over one year
since the government of
Bisher Al-Khasawneh was formed, political analysts
interviewed by
Jordan News qualified his Cabinet’s performance in 2021 as “bad”,
particularly in dealing with the economic challenges facing the country since
the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
اضافة اعلان
Khasawneh’s government was
formed in October 2020 under extraordinary conditions, with the country having
to address the repercussion of a global pandemic that ministers, analysts say,
seemed incapable of dealing with. The challenges, they say, were overwhelming,
and strategic plans were not up to them.
Hamada Faraaneh, writer and
political analyst, told
Jordan News that the performance of the
government has been “modest” due to “its inability to address the epidemiological
and economic situation”.
He said that the budget deficit
increased by more than JD950 million, which “is real evidence that it (the
government) not only could not address the problem, but made it worse”.
Faraaneh stressed that the Lower
House could contribute to making the government improve its performance by withholding
its confidence when the draft budget is discussed under the Dome.
“The Lower House has the duty
to exercise its constitutional right of determining the fate of the government,”
he said, and that could check and lead to improved government performance.
Jihad Al-Mheisen, political columnist,
told
Jordan News that the ministers’ inability to act in harmony, their
giving conflicting statements, has contributed to projecting the image of a
weak government.
“You may hear different official
opinions regarding one single issue, and that is unacceptable,” he said, adding
that citizens, in general, do not trust this government, and therefore “will reject
any decision it will take”.
Economist Tharwat Masalha admitted
that “this government was formed under extraordinary conditions, but its
ministers failed to come up with serious, effective, strategic plans or to
address the dire circumstance the country has been going through recently”.
Most ministers failed to add
anything of value to the government, he said, but “I still believe that the
prime minister has an effective methodology that is eclipsed by the lack of harmony
among the ministers”.
Masalha also said that if the
government wishes to address the difficult circumstances the country is facing,
it needs to establish mega-projects, “especially that what most of the citizens
really want now is a solution to the unemployment crisis”, and stimulate
investments.
Unless investors are encouraged
to come to Jordan, “the situation will remain difficult, and even worsen in the
near future”, he said.
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