“Speech from the Throne”... What are the implications of the issues addressed by the King of Jordan?

- The Jordanian King, King Abdullah II, placed the fight against terrorism at the top of the priorities of the course of the next phase, during his speech at the opening of the third regular session of the National Assembly, on Monday, beginning his speech by talking about the armed attack on a funeral in the Hamoud Church, in which 9 people from the Hilsa clan, which is one of the largest Christian clans in the Karak Governorate, in the south of the country, were killed. The balconies designated for guests of the National Assembly witnessed the presence of a number of relatives of the victims of the attack, during the delivery of the Throne Speech, in which sharp vocabulary emerged, as the Jordanian King described the perpetrators of the attack as “Kharijites” and those who “betrayed the Jordanian family,” stressing at the same time that his “bet” on the Jordanian is a bet “on his awareness when roads are confusing, on his wisdom when emotions rise, and on his sincerity and loyalty when adversity is severe.”

After emphasizing the importance of the cohesion of the internal front, the Palestinian issue and the defense of Arab issues formed a central axis in the royal speech. “We adhere to our Arabism” - The King reaffirmed Jordan’s continuation of its Hashemite approach in defending the Palestinian cause and Arab issues, saying: “We remain steadfast in our position, adhering to our Arabism and defending the issues of our nation, as my father was before me and my son will be after me, so that the unified Arab word will remain, even if it seems distant, our desire and goal.” In an escalation added to his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September, King Abdullah II again warned against Israeli expansionist ambitions, saying that “tyranny does not grant legitimacy, and time does not erase rights and facts.”

For his part, former Senate member Jamil al-Nimri described the throne speech as “unconventional,” pointing to “a number of political messages and directives that the speech carried in light of the nature of the challenges facing Jordan and the region.” Al-Nimri said, in an interview with the Ofoq News website in Arabic, that one of the most prominent features of the speech was “the king’s beginning of his speech with a request to observe a minute of silence in mourning for the martyrs of the terrorist operation in Karak, before he aroused the patriotism of the Jordanians,” and affirmed his bet on them in confronting terrorism, alongside the armed forces and security services, whose members he described as “soldiers of brave men.”

Al-Nimri added: “The second immediate priority is the Palestinian issue and the occupation and its practices,” pointing out that the speech “confirmed the Jordanian policy towards the Palestinian issue, as was evident in the king’s “unprecedented” speech before the United Nations. Al-Nimri referred to the king’s statement: “Israeli expansionist ambitions remain the greatest threat to the future of the region.” “The nature of the challenges” He pointed out that “the nature of the challenges characterized the speech. It was not presented as an expanded work program for the government as is usually the case, but rather included numerous messages and signals.” Banner,” including emphasizing the role of representatives and preserving the freedom to disagree.

King Abdullah II addressed the Jordanians, stressing that “deliberation on public affairs is a legitimate right,” while he addressed the members of the National Assembly, stressing that their difference of opinion “is a strength, as long as Jordan’s interest is the goal.” In this context, Al-Nimri believed that the King touched on a number of limited internal files as “priorities for the government’s work,” most notably the Kingdom’s water security file and the continuation of work on the economic modernization program.

He said: "After emphasizing the economic modernization program and the presence of major projects on the way, the king raised the issue of water security more than once, stressing that he would not allow the thirst of Jordanians to be held hostage by any circumstance." Al-Nimri believed that this was a reference to the national carrier project, despite its high cost, considering it to be the way to liberate Jordan from “possible Israeli blackmail” related to water sources, whether from Lake Kinneret or from the project that was folded with the war on Gaza, known as “water in exchange for electricity,” according to his description.

In a clear directive to the political behavior of the National Assembly, the king said that Jordanians “do not only look at the laws issued by this dome, but also at the behavior and speech that comes from it.” In a related context, MP Ibrahim Tarawneh won the presidency of the Jordanian House of Representatives in its third session, in the session held after the end of the Throne Speech.

Tarawneh previously assumed the presidency of the Dentists Syndicate, and was appointed a member of the Senate in 2022, before resigning from it in 2024 and running in the parliamentary elections for Karak Governorate, where he won a seat in the twentieth House of Representatives, and last year he headed the National Charter Party parliamentary bloc. Tarawneh said in later statements that the House of Representatives, in light of the directives included in the Throne Speech, “stands before great responsibilities in supporting the rule of law,” noting that the House “constitutes one of the pillars of the constitutional government system, the institution of legislation and oversight, and a bridge that connects society to the state.”