The newly announced public administration reform plan
completes the chain of reforms led by the Royal vision, based on the
integration of political, economic, and public aspects to create a prosperous
future Jordan and Jordanians are worthy of as the country takes its first steps
in its second century.
اضافة اعلان
However, public
sector reform has its own peculiarities, which make it stand out as more vital
than the two others, as it is the key for their success.
For starters, a task force assigned by the Cabinet,
“the Committee to Modernize the Public Sector”, has recently presented the
outcomes of worth of work to His Majesty King Abdullah, identifying seven
pillars that need special attention leading to improvement and modernization:
public services, procedures and digitization, organizational structures and
administration, policy and decision-making, human resources, laws, and institutional
culture.
During the
presentation, panel members spoke “about the main pillars of the roadmap, which
includes 206 initiatives focused on bringing about qualitative leaps in
government services, streamlining and bolstering the efficiency of the public
sector, expediting digital transformation, restructuring and merging public
institutions, and nurturing excellence and innovation”.
Why does public
sector reform pose more risk to the entire vision than political and economic
reform?
… when it comes to public administration reforms, there are no excuses and people expect to see tangible changes as soon as possible.
The overall reform
drive seeks, among its objectives, to rebuild the diminishing trust between the
public and the government administration. The public opinion understands that
economic reform is a challenging battle in light of the snowballing global
economic crisis that surfaced after two years of a pandemic, a decade of
regional turmoil brought about by the Arab Spring, and now the
Russian-Ukrainian war. The public is also aware that economic growth will be
expressed in figures and therefore, a change in the present reality will be
slow and only measurable in figures issued by specialized local and
international agencies.
Political reform,
on the other hand, is about building a culture of engagement preceded by
changes to legislation to facilitate acceptance in the collective mentality.
But when it comes
to public administration reforms, there are no excuses and people expect to see
tangible changes as soon as possible.
This is why His
Majesty said that “the ultimate objective of modernizing the public sector is
to improve services provided to citizens and bolster the efficiency of public
administration”.
This can be
measured on the spot by the average citizen dealing with any agency for
day-to-day business with the government. There is nowhere to hide or sweep
anything under the rug. People expect to see no wasta or sluggishness in the
delivery of public services; they expect to see real transparency in procedures
and clarity in regulations, and, above all, no corruption.
It is safe to claim
that the public-government relationship and restoring public trust in
government hinge on the success of this plan.
Public sector
reform is certainly a make-or-break mission for all of us. It must succeed, as
it means a better future for our generation and generations to come.
Khalid Dalal is a former advisor at the Royal Hashemite
Court, former director of media and communication at the Office of His Majesty
King Abdullah, and works currently as a senior advisor for media, strategic
communication, PR, international cooperation, and business development locally,
regionally and globally. khaliddalal@aol.com
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