Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The government is facing a challenge in changing the people's perceptions on combating graft as they are "deep and negative," and deeply ingrained within the people's mindsets, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said Sunday.

Adaileh, who is also the spokesperson of the government, said that this has become the case due to previous mistakes and the lack of transparency on protecting the public money and combatting graft, tax evasion and customs duty evasion.

In a briefing at the Prime Ministry, he told journalists that changing the people's negative perceptions requires the government to exert more effort in communicating with the people and expose them to the facts, as well as accomplishing more achievements without any infringement on the "course of justice."

On the legal aspect, Adaileh said that the government is working on addressing the legal loopholes in legislations regarding the protection of public money. In order to make this happen, he added, the government will amend the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission's (IACC) law to make it more independent, and the law of the Audit Bureau.

When asked about Jordanians returning back from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sates, Adaielh said that their situation is being studied.

He added that His Majesty King Abdullah II had directed the government to bring back stranded Jordanian students from abroad, noting that 20,000 Jordanians have been repatriated so far.