Jordan prime minister submits resignation days after election
Khasawneh steps down less than a week after Islamists made gains in parliamentary elections; expected to be replaced by veteran diplomat Jafar Hassan
Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh submitted his resignation on Sunday, officials familiar with the matter said, less than a week after a parliamentary election that saw some gains for the Islamist opposition in the US-allied kingdom.
US-educated Jafar Hassan, now head of King Abdullah’s office and a former planning minister, is expected to replace Khasawneh, a veteran diplomat and former palace adviser who was appointed nearly four years ago, the officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Hassan will face the challenges of mitigating the impact of the Gaza war on the kingdom’s economy, hard hit by curbs to investment and a sharp drop in tourism.
The outgoing prime minister had sought to advance reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help reverse a decade of sluggish growth hovering at around two percent that was worsened by the pandemic and conflict in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
The Muslim Brotherhood opposition, ideological allies of Palestinian terror group Hamas, made significant gains in Tuesday’s election, boosted by anger over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
The new composition of the 138 member parliament retains a pro-government majority, but a more vocal Islamist-led opposition could challenge IMF-led free-market reforms and foreign policy.
