Jordan's new prime minister, Bishr Al-Khasawneh (Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0 via الخصاونة هاني)
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday designated his policy adviser to form a new government amid criticism of the previous government’s handling of the virus pandemic.
In a statement published by the Royal Court, the king said he appointed Bishr al-Khasawneh the country’s new prime minister and instructed him to form a government that meets the aspirations of the Jordanian people.
Al-Khasawneh will oversee parliamentary elections November 10.
Abdullah on Saturday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Omar al Razzaz. The king had dissolved Parliament a week earlier at the end of its four-year term. Under the country’s constitution, that left al Razzaz’s government a week to resign.
Jordan has nearly 20,200 confirmed virus cases, including over 130 fatalities, and the previous government was criticized for its handling of the pandemic.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Jordanian King Abdullah II delivers a speech at the European Parliament, on January 15, 2020, in Strasbourg, eastern France. (Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
King Abdullah urged Al-Khaswaneh to enhance coordination with other Arab countries and expand economic ties with them, as well as facilitate foreign and Arab investments.
The king said the Palestinian cause is also a top priority for the kingdom, and that Jordan would continue its efforts to bring about a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Advertisement
Discover Israel's most beloved poet
She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel’s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.
You can screen 'The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg' June 4-11. Join The Times of Israel Community today to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
