Prime Minister Dr. Bisher Khasawneh, has conveyed well wishes to Jordan’s Christians on the advent of Christmas and the new year 2022.

During his visit to the Latin Diocese on Sunday, December 26, in the presence of a number of ministers and Jordan’s Church heads, the prime minister affirmed the Hashemite leadership’s pride in the central and pivotal role played by Christian Jordanians in serving the Kingdom.

He said: “We are partners in this country, and partners in the march of the state. Christmas is viewed a national holiday.”

“Christians in the Kingdom, as in the Arab East, carried a ‘national message’ and set a model of a cohesive national fabric. They also contributed to helping Jordan enter its second centenary,” Khasawneh pointed out.

The prime minister also referred to the Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in noble Jerusalem adding: “Jordan will always work to preserve Jerusalem’s historical status quo and preserve its Islamic and Christian holy sites. We will stand firm against any attempts aimed at changing the city’s historical status quo, and we will continue to defend sanctities to affirm steadfastness at these holy sites.” In this regard, the prime minister referred to the primary and central role of Churches in protecting the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Khasawneh also pointed out that the Jordanian state and the political system are the “most rooted and most capable” of overcoming challenges and difficulties, due to the national cohesion between the Hashemite leadership and its people with all its components and fabrics.

The country is facing a number of challenges, such as Covid-19 pandemic and economic difficulties, he noted, adding that the government is making revisions and corrections under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II and the follow-up of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein Ibn Abdullah with the aim of entering Jordan’s second centenary while overcoming some mistakes that marred the path in the first 100th years.

The prim minister also said that the Jordanian state is in the process of thoroughly modernizing its political system, as a Royal committee was formed for this purpose, which submitted results and recommendations to the government that were sent to the Lower House, indicating that the House is now debating the committee’s outputs.

The formation of a committee to modernize the public sector, which is a basic requirement, “is needed to modernize the public sector. Furthermore, the administrative reform constitutes leverage for the political and economic reform system, and in a way that contributes to reviving the private sector by contributing to the flow of local and foreign investments to overcome the economic challenges of unemployment and deepening phenomenon of poverty”.

The prime minister continued, “We are moving in the second centenary of the country towards broader horizons in line with the aspirations of His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein Ibn Abdullah, who put the interests of the Kingdom’s citizens in mind and emphasized the need to improve their living standard.

The government is working on these issues according to the basis of partnership with all  the Kingdom’s components, he noted.

Khasawneh referred Jordanians’ sacrifices to defend the Arab nation’s crucial and fundamental issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian right to establish a fully sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The prime minister also stressed that the Jordanian people present a model of harmony and common living in its finest manifestations, pointing out that hope is always pinned on Jordanian people, who have not and will not fail their homeland.

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