ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh said on Sunday his government's crackdown on corruption is "an irreversible option" as graft jeopardizes national security and stability and undermines achievements. He pledged that his government would open all files and support official anti-corruption watchdogs, namely the Anti-Corruption Commission ACC, the Audit Bureau and the Jordanian judiciary. But he cautioned that good faith should yield tangible results that would only come if there were strong and independent surveillance bodies and valid legislation.

Khasawneh told a ceremony marking International Anti-Corruption Day, dubbed "Jordan deserves the best", that the Kingdom takes pride of the judiciary's accomplishments to punish the corrupt and retrieve funds plundered as it seeks to promote fairness and transparency, a strategy that would "put us on the right track to fulfill the aspired-for reform." He emphasised a collective effort by all public and private institutions and individuals, appealing to civil society organisations and "people of good faith in the private sector" to stand with us in combating this "plague", vowing that the law will be applied in its full force.

"No one is above the law and accountability and there's no impunity for any official regardless their ranks or responsibilities," he said.

The prime minister commended the ACC and the other surveillance bodies, which "we all pin high hopes on" in efforts to fight all forms of corruption and stamp them out." He said Jordan has gained high esteem among nations in various fields, which "compels us to lay good governance criteria, proceed with reform and modernization and consolidate the rule of law to hold supreme.

Jordan, he said, is on the threshold of a transitional phase at regional level, whose emblem should be firm decision-making and a serious comprehensive reform approach while moving in earnest to achieve sustainable development. He said the Kingdom would reach out to the world to achieve those goals.

"Jordan attaches great importance to international cooperation, exchange of expertise and data and larger mutual technical aid among nations and international organisations", he said, adding that the Kingdom had signed the United Nations Convention against corruption. ACC president Samih Bino told the ceremony that Jordan and the world are before a colossal challenge that required close and collective cooperation to find solutions to financial and administrative corruption.

He said his agency is speedily seeking to complete the legal framework for its mandate to eradicate corruption that had become "one of the evil manifestations that threaten society's security and stability and a hurdle to sustainable development and good governance that also derails development plans.

"It's high time in this historic phase to translate words into actions, transcend slogans and firmly forge ahead with reform," he urged, noting that his agency had broad powers with a strong will under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II.



*Petra