Khaberni - The government continued its series of dialogues about the local administration law project with a meeting held by Walid Al-Masri, the Minister of Local Administration, and several ministers on Sunday, with the chairman and members of the Azm Party parliamentary bloc.
Walid Al-Masri, the Minister of Local Administration, highlighted the main features of the draft law, which primarily aims to empower municipal councils to efficiently fulfill their developmental and service responsibilities, especially since about 70% of the services provided to citizens are related to municipalities.
The minister emphasized that the government focused in the draft law on several axes, most notably the governance and management of municipalities, financial discipline, oversight, accountability, planning, and improving the quality of services.
He mentioned that the amendment to the Local Administration Law was stipulated in the royal decree and the government's statement of trust, noting that the draft law completes the political reform system that included the party law and the election law.
Al-Masri explained during the meeting, which was attended by the ministers of public works and housing, Engineer Maher Abu Al-Samn, political and parliamentary affairs, Abdulmonem Al-Oudat, and youth, Raed Al-Adwan, that the electoral process would continue according to the previously used model, where the mayor and members are elected through separate ballot papers for each.
Regarding the empowerment of women and youth, he pointed out that the draft project increased the percentage of women participation in the membership of municipal councils to 30% to support the empowerment of women in local work, and included incentives to empower youth to actively participate in developmental decision-making.
Al-Masri indicated that the role of the Ministry of Local Administration in the draft law is regulatory and supervisory, noting that it will rely on staff from the Audit Bureau for financial oversight and for training municipal employees.
He noted that the draft law focuses on automation and digitization, which contribute to controlling spending and ensuring fairness in providing services.
Al-Masri affirmed that the government is fully open to proposals and ideas that could refine the law's texts, praising the ongoing dialogues with the House of Representatives and related entities that have contributed to shaping the current foundations of the project.
The Minister of Youth, Raed Al-Adwan, reviewed the outputs of the political reform system and the recommendations of the Local Administration Committee according to three main themes: financial decentralization, which relies on the decentralization of revenues and expenses, service decentralization, and the adoption of a needs manual as a framework document and an accredited reference for implementing projects, which defines priorities according to the decision of the province council, in addition to giving the province council the authority to monitor and oversee project execution, and administrative decentralization, and working to change the structure of the province council.
Al-Adwan pointed out that the draft Local Administration Law aims to expand the qualitative representation base of the provincial councils to represent various segments of society.
The draft law also focuses on enhancing the participation of women and youth by allocating 30% of the seats to women, as a lady will be a deputy or assistant to the president in the provincial council.
Al-Adwan mentioned the political reform system's proposal and the recommendations of the Local Administration Committee on enhancing the supervisory and monitoring framework for the provincial councils in cooperation with the executive council in the province.
The recommendations also include at the end of the timeframe for developing the local administration sector, considering establishing developmental regional councils so that the region is thought of as a developmental unit rather than geographic regions.
Walid Al-Masri, the chairman of the Azm Party parliamentary bloc, emphasized that this meeting enhances communication between the government and the parliament, pointing out that the bloc will have proposals on the draft law once it reaches the House of Representatives.
He confirmed the need for governance of municipal work and the automation and digitization of the services they provide, which reduces human intervention and enhances social justice, noting the importance of simplifying procedures in municipalities to facilitate and assist citizens.
A dialogue showcased the views of the members of the Azm Party parliamentary bloc regarding mechanisms for developing municipal work, stressing the importance of enhancing transparency, oversight, and involving the local community in the evaluation process.
They pointed to the importance of including the day of municipal council elections as a holiday for the private sector, which contributes to increasing participation, and mentioned the necessity to resolve issues and overlaps that occur in some sectors when implementing projects within municipal boundaries.
