AMMAN, Aug. 15 (Petra) — The revised draft of the Local
Administration Law significantly expands the executive and
developmental authorities of municipal mayors, introducing a
comprehensive framework designed to modernize local governance,
institutionalize transparency, and foster sustainable municipal
development across the Kingdom.

Under the legislative amendments, the draft law preserves the five
core statutory duties of the mayor–presiding over council sessions,
representing the municipality in official forums, signing legally
vetted contracts and memoranda of understanding, overseeing municipal
committees, and safeguarding institutional rights.

Crucially, the amendments introduce eight strategic authorities that
elevate the mayor from an administrative manager to a proactive
leader of local development. These new powers include monitoring
municipal service quality, tracking delayed or stalled
infrastructural and investment projects, and spearheading
inter-agency coordination with government ministries and the private
sector.

To reinforce robust governance, the draft empowers mayors to oversee
compliance with transparency and conflict-of-interest regulations,
lead institutional performance evaluation committees, and hold the
executive apparatus directly accountable for service delivery
benchmarks and strategic execution.

A cornerstone of the revised legislation is the institutionalization
of participatory budgeting, which actively engages citizens in
prioritizing municipal projects and public spending to ensure
alignment with grassroots needs. Furthermore, the draft establishes a
permanent legal framework for neighborhood committees, mandating
public hearing sessions to gather community input prior to finalizing
localized service and infrastructure decisions.

To bolster institutional accountability and public trust, the law
permits the live broadcasting of municipal council sessions, expands
mandatory public information disclosures, and requires municipalities
to publish regular performance reports detailing achievement levels
and service quality metrics.

The legislative framework also introduces structural advancements by
widening female and youth representation–including guaranteed slots
on executive boards–and cleanly demarcating the roles of the
municipal council in policymaking and oversight from the executive
administration’s implementation duties, thereby eliminating
jurisdictional overlap.

Additionally, the draft creates specialized institutional evaluation
committees, establishes modern legal pathways for public-private
partnerships in local investments, links budgets directly to
developmental KPIs, and mandates comprehensive digital transformation
and process automation to streamline municipal collections, cut
administrative overhead, and optimize service delivery.

//Petra// AA