King Abdullah appoints chief of staff as Jordan's new PM

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh steps down following elections marked by Gaza war discontent

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sunday nominated his chief of staff to be the new prime minister, the royal palace said, charging him with forming a government after parliamentary elections.

The outgoing premier, Bisher Khasawneh, submitted his resignation to the king earlier on Sunday.

Under the kingdom’s constitution, the government usually resigns after legislative elections. It is the king who appoints the prime minister, not parliament which has limited powers.

“King Abdullah on Sunday tasked Jaafar Hassan with forming a new government,” a palace statement said.

As well as being chief of staff, the 56-year-old Hassan was previously planning minister.

In Tuesday’s election Jordan’s leading Islamist party, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest in parliament, winning 31 out of the 138 seats.

The IAF is a political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, and the result gives the Islamists their largest representation since 1989.

Despite a low turnout of 32 percent, the party’s success came with voters frustrated about economic woes and Israel’s war against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Jordan in 1994 signed a peace treaty with Israel, becoming only the second Arab state to do so after Egypt, but regular protests have called for the treaty’s dissolution since the war erupted last October.

Nearly half of the country’s population is of Palestinian origin.

Khasawneh, 55, had headed the government since October 2020.

Jordan’s parliament is bicameral. In addition to the elected parliament, there is also a senate with 69 members appointed by the monarch.

The Gaza war has hit tourism in Jordan, which relies on the sector for about 14 percent of its gross domestic product.

The kingdom is heavily dependent on foreign aid, especially from the United States and the International Monetary Fund.

In the first quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate was 21 percent.