Date: 22 November 2007
Title: His Majesty King Abdullah II's letter of designation to Nader Dahabi

In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate

Dear Brother, may God protect you,

Greetings,

It is our pleasure to send you an Arab Hashemite greeting, with our amicable feelings, respect and appreciation.

I have known you to be a loyal Jordanian who belongs to his homeland and nation, working honestly and devotedly for Jordan's greater good. You are known for your efficiency, and the ability to translate our vision of Jordan's future into plans to realize its prosperity and glory, always guided by the principle of service to the homeland and its citizens.

We accepted the resignation of Dr. Marouf Bakhit's government after it fulfilled its mandate and shouldered its national responsibilities diligently and honestly. Because of what we know of your experience in different areas, especially the economic ones, we designate you to form and head a new government that would build on the achievements realized, and uphold the national duties and obligations delegated to it by the Constitution and existing legislation.

Since the coming stage that is full of challenges is rather essential and important in the history of Jordan, our most basic preoccupation must be with economic and social affairs. We assert our determination to continue with political reform, enhance participation and develop party affiliation, guided by the principles agreed upon in the National Agenda Committee and We Are All Jordan Forum.

Economic and social priorities are complementary. So, realizing sustainable growth rate, enhancing the competitiveness of our national economy, allowing the private sector to work and to invest in an environment of real and effective partnership with the government to increase productivity and create job opportunities for Jordanians, men and women, are all basic requirements of security and social stability in its broadest sense.

In this area, we are concerned to see the social safety net covering the fields of education, health and housing; in addition to improving the salaries of employees in the public sector and members of the Armed Forces and the security institutions.

And in this respect, we emphasize the importance of studying tying salaries to inflation rates, and productivity and performance indicators, for the purpose of protecting limited- and low-income citizens. It is also essential to entrench the principles of equal opportunity and merit, and to review the mechanism of social support to establish the principle of extending support to those who deserve it.

We would like to emphasize that providing healthy, proper housing to the citizens of our homeland is an integral part of the social safety net and is a goal to which we aspire. Hence, the government should be concerned with accelerating the implementation of current housing projects, especially those designated for teachers, military personnel and public sector employees, and the housing city of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Zarqa, to expand the base of homeowners.

We also emphasize the need to expand the health insurance umbrella to include all citizens, and accelerate the construction of hospitals and health centres throughout the country, and staffing them with the necessary qualified technical personnel. We must also enhance monitoring of the quality of food products, drugs and water to ensure citizens' health and safety.

The Jordanian citizen has always been, over the span of our pioneering developmental course, the most important object in the process of modernization and development, and the main driver of change and progress. Enabling citizens to acquire knowledge remains one of the most important imperatives to realize our vision for Jordan's future.

The educational process was, and remains, one of the most important sources for knowledge-building for Jordanians, and is a basic factor in boosting productivity. Our strategic vision for education calls for intensifying efforts and working in a team spirit. In this regard we emphasize the necessity of implementing new programmes to develop education and the students' intellectual structure; and to improve the quality of education outcomes.

For this purpose, we will form, in the next few days, a specialized royal advisory commission to provide the institutions that supervise general education with ideas, plans and suggestions, to guide the development of education policies - especially the development of curricula, teaching methods, teacher training and the development of the students intellectual structure - in order to provide the higher education and vocational training sectors with quality education inputs that would qualify them for competitiveness, innovation, excellence and compliance with the requirements and needs of the job market.

As for youth, we are always keen to support them, by empowering them, urging their innovative abilities and encouraging their participation in public life. We emphasize that they should be cared for, through direct and continuous outreach, sponsorship of young leaders, training and qualifying them to shoulder responsibility in the different national institutions and crystallizing a serious, mature youth identity able to take initiative.

Our Brother,

The scarcity of natural resources, especially energy resources and water, is the major challenge to sustainable development. We deem it necessary to work on ensuring energy security through the best utilisation of energy resources, the search for new sources of renewable and alternative energy and offering every possible support to accelerate the realization of the atomic energy program for peaceful purposes.

With regard to water security, we emphasize the need to carry out existing water resource development projects, provide new sources, and use unconventional means to exploit water sources such as building more dams and expanding water harvesting and water desalinization projects.

The financing of these national priorities requires our commitment to a medium-term financial framework for the general budget, to attain budgets that are results oriented, within a strategic, integrated perspective that fulfils citizens' needs for basic services, and guarantees better debt management, the alleviation of the debt burden and the utilization of the available financial policy tools to strike a balance between development requirements and limiting the rise of prices.

Our Brother,

Because justice is the basis for governance and the arbiter of duties and rights, the judiciary will always remain as the safety valve against malpractice. Hence, we emphasize the importance of implementing the national strategy for the development of the judiciary in coordination with the Judicial Council, to provide the environment that guarantees the judiciary's independence and integrity, and the entrenchment of the principles of the rule of law and equal opportunity; in addition to confronting all forms of corruption through entrenching the principles of transparency and accountability, and supporting the Anti-Corruption Commission in its efforts to realize these goals.

As we have asserted on several occasions, press freedom is protected. It is subject only to the rule of law and professional ethics, and because we believe that the official media is state media, the homeland's mirror and the citizens' eye on the truth, the government is required to devise and execute plans to develop the official media, and provide our official media institutions with qualified and experienced people along with modern equipment, so that they are enabled to present the truth, monitor realities and entrench the principles of professionalism and responsible objectivity. They should be encouraged to play an effective role in social and political mobility.

Realizing these visions and programs requires a number of reforms in the legislative environment. Hence the government should be concerned with working in complete partnership with the two Houses of Parliament, for the purpose of formulating the legislation necessary to translate vision into reality.

The achievements of our homeland, and the security and stability we enjoy would not have been possible without the efficiency of our brave Armed Forces and security institutions; and so we emphasize the importance of giving them all the attention and support they deserve to preserve their preparedness and the continuity of their work with efficiency and competency. We also emphasize the importance of improving the standard of living of their members, who keep watch over the security of our citizens and homeland.

Our internal unity and its strength require maximizing what brings people together and overstepping what keeps them apart. All share this homeland which was built on love and brotherhood, as equal partners. All contribute towards entrenching our common living; they advance in status in accordance with their loyalty to the homeland, their dedication and their achievement. The national identity that unites us does not accept fragmentation.

The government therefore is called upon to strive for social justice, equality and the rule of law in an organized, methodological manner in all state affairs; to emphasize moderation, tolerance, fighting extremism and fanaticism; and to entrench the principles included in the Amman Message as a way of life.

On the Arab scene, great missions await you. Primary among them is enhancing Jordan's relations with its Arab brethren. We are keen to have strategic relations that help unify Arab stances in facing up to current challenges where the Palestinian issue tops the list. This issue is at the centre of our concerns and Arab priorities. Your mission in that regard should focus on utilizing Jordan's Arab relations and its national capabilities to help the Palestinian people to attain and establish their viable, independent state and entrench that independence on Palestinian national soil.

We emphasize the need to provide all forms of support to protect the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem which have been entrusted to our care. We will fulfil this promise, protecting and caring for them against any attempt to obliterate their Arab and Islamic identity.

We also emphasize the importance of enhancing, entrenching and developing Jordan's international and bilateral relations, so that they will benefit Jordan.

In this letter of designation, we sought to clarify our vision and summarize your mission and priorities, although you are not limited to these. We emphasize the importance of hard, loyal work to realize the goals, visions and ideas we have mentioned; to translate them successfully, God willing, into a reality in the life of Jordanians, through plans and work programs tied to time tables and indicators to measure the government's performance in general and each ministry in particular. We trust in your ability to carry out this mission, and this trust is part and parcel of our keenness to offer support, direction and advice.

Waiting for the nominations of the names of your colleagues in your ministerial team, I ask God Almighty to grant you success and wise judgment in choosing those whose efficiency and ability you trust most to pursue and uphold our vision of the future of modern Jordan, shoulder responsibility and serve our dear people.

May God grant us success.

Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you.

Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein

Amman, 22 November 2007