Jordan's king appoints new prime minister

On September 15, King Abdullah II of Jordan appointed Mr. Jaafar Hassan, 56 years old, as the new Prime Minister to replace Mr. Bicher Khasawneh who resigned the same day.

King of Jordan appoints Jafar Hassan as Prime Minister and asks for formation of new cabinet. (Source: Barrons)

In the directive, the King asked the new Prime Minister to form a new cabinet focused on supporting the Palestinians and protecting their rights. He also called for diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and violations of international law.

Earlier the same day, King Abdullah II accepted the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, but still asked Mr. Khasawneh to run the interim government until a new cabinet is formed.

Mr. Jafar Hassan holds a PhD in Political Science and International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Switzerland), and a postgraduate degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

He served as Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, then Chief of Staff to King Abdullah, and is the author of a book on Jordanian Political Economy, published in Arabic in 2020.

In 2018, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs and tasked with implementing reforms to cut public debt. In 2021, he was reappointed Chief of Staff to King Abdullah II.

Under the Jordanian Constitution, most power rests with the King, who appoints the government and can dissolve parliament. The Jordanian parliament can force the cabinet to resign by passing a vote of no confidence. Traditionally, the cabinet is dissolved after parliamentary elections.

AFP news agency said the decision was made after the September 10 parliamentary election, in which the opposition Islamic Action Front (FAI) party won.

In Jordan's election, which took place amid a bleak economy and conflict in Gaza, the FAI, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood - the oldest and most influential Islamist movement in the Arab world - won 31 of the 138 seats in parliament.

Winning these seats is a historic result for the IAF and its largest representation since it won 22 of the 80 seats in the Jordanian Parliament in 1989. In the 2020 elections, the IAF won only 10 seats.

The conflict in Gaza has affected the election results in Jordan, where nearly half the population is of Palestinian origin. Many protests call for the cancellation of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. The conflict has also severely damaged the Jordanian economy, especially tourism.

Jordan's unemployment rate was 21% in the first quarter of 2024. The country is heavily dependent on foreign aid, especially from the United States and the International Monetary Fund.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nha-vua-jordan-chi-dinh-thu-tuong-moi-286463.html