Ammon News - "The Jordanian state is entering a new political phase in the structure of its executive and legislative powers, based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission to Modernise the Political System, recently approved by the Council of Ministers," said Minister of State for Media Affairs, Faisal Shaboul.

Shboul, who is also the government spokeeperson, gave his remarks during an interview on Wednesday evening on JRTV.

Shabul underlined the importance of comprehensively considering the constitutional amendments proposed by the Committee to Modernise the Political System, particularly with regard to women, youth and persons with disabilities.

These amendmentsm Shboul added, prescribe the presence of women and young people in the general constituency reserved for parties.

Post studying the draft legislation proposed by the Committee to Modernise the Political System and the associated constitutional amendments, Shboul pointed out that the government proposed a national security council and foreign policy to be formed, noting that this idea was fully consistent with the royal discussion papers that talked about his Majesty's role in foreign policy and as the commander-in-chief of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF).

The Council is chaired by His Majesty the King and consists of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two figures slected by the King.

On the latest updates of the epidemiological situation, the Minister of State for Media Affairs reiterated that there will be no lockdowns or any form of curfews, and that the in-class education in schools and universities will continue.

He pointed out that the epidemiological situation is not bad, and the health system is able to deal with three times the infections recorded compared to the current Covid-19 infections.

He added that the current wave that Jordan is going through, is concentrated in people who have received the second dose of the vaccine more than six months, in addition to the age group bewteen 12 and 17, who are school students, pointing out that two thirds of daily infections are recorded in this group.

Only 3.5% of the total number of people infected in the current wave received the first or second dose, he said.

He noted that there are 245,000 citizens who received the first dose and haven't complied with the second one, and rate of vaccine recipients from refugees and residents in the kingdom is small compared to the target group of 1.8 million, pointing out that rate of vaccine recipients in this category amounted to only one third.

With regard to holding gatherings, Shaboul explained that any gathering or group activity that follows health protocols is acceptable, blaming the neglegence and non-compliance with preventive measures in terms of wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing and receiving vaccines.

Shaboul said the government, in the coming period, will impose strict measures on institutions and individuals to comply with safety and prevention measures and as well as deriving vaccination.

He said members of the armed forces and security bodies are committed to receiving the vaccine, with 98% vaccination rate, compared to the civil apparatus, the rate of which stands at 90%.

With regard to the government's communication channels, Shaboul said that Media units in the Prime Ministry provide information as quickly as possible to all media outlets, whether local, Arab or international.

In the next three weeks, the government will begin practical steps to train media speakers in ministries and public institutions in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Jordan and the Jordan Media Institute, Shaboul said.

He explained that there is a committee that will evaluate the performance of speakers before training them, stressing that this step is important with the aim of strengthening government communication with the media and the public, and providing them with information.

(Petra)