Jordan's King Abdullah appoints US-educated technocrat as Prime Minister, royal court says

Written by Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan's King Abdullah appointed palace aide Jafar Hassan as prime minister after the government resigned on Sunday, the royal court said, days after parliamentary elections in which opposition parties made some gains in the U.S.-backed government.

Hassan, now King Abdullah's chief of staff and former planning minister, replaces Bisher Khasawneh, a veteran diplomat and palace adviser who was appointed nearly four years ago, the royal court said in a statement.

Khasawneh will remain in the acting position until a new cabinet is formed, the statement said.

Harvard-educated Hassan, a well-respected expert, will face the challenges of mitigating the impact of the Gaza war on the kingdom's economy, which has been hit hard by investment and a sharp drop in tourism.

In Hassan's nomination letter, the king said that democracy must be strengthened in the country and that its economic future depends on the continuation of donor-supported major infrastructure projects in energy and water.

The outgoing prime minister wanted to implement reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help reverse a decade of sluggish growth, hovering around 2%, made worse by the pandemic and conflicts in neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The traditional establishment was accused of interfering with the modernization drive promoted by the Western-leaning monarch, fearing that liberal reforms would undermine their power.

Politicians say the key task ahead is to speed up reforms guided by the IMF and repay the government debt of more than $50 billion in a country with high unemployment and whose stability is supported by billions of dollars in foreign aid from Western donors.

The opposition Muslim Brotherhood and allies of the Palestinian terror group, Hamas, made big gains in Tuesday's election, fueled by anger over Israel's war on Gaza.

The Islamists won 31 seats, the most since parliament was restored in 1989 after decades of martial law, leaving the largest political party in parliament.

In a country where anti-Israel sentiment is running high, they have led some of the biggest protests in the region in support of Hamas, which their opponents say has allowed them to boost their popularity.

Although the new composition of the 138-member parliament maintains a pro-government majority, the Islamist-led opposition could challenge IMF-backed free market reforms and foreign policy, diplomats and officials said.

Under Jordan's constitution, most powers rest with the king, who appoints governments and can dissolve parliament. The assembly can force the cabinet to resign with a no vote

confidence.