European Forum

Jordanian Prime Minister Resigns

Yesterday, the 26th of April, Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh of Jordan resigned while being on an official visit to Turkey. He is the third PM resigning after protests broke out in January 2011. The exact reason for Khasawneh’s resignation is unknown. Sources report that he did not agree with the reforms and pace of those reforms proposed by King Abdullah II. Moreover, by Royal Decree, it was decided to extend parliament’s second ordinary session with two months.

When the former judge at the International Court of Justice was appointed in October 2011 he promised to fight corruption, and introduce political and economic reforms. But he gained much criticism from reformists and opposition parties by proposing a new electoral law which would have scrapped the country's one-person-one-vote system. It would have also limited the number of seats allocated to political parties, while at the same time increasing a quota for the number of women MPs.

"Regardless of how he quit, this showed the sovereignty which the prime minister talked about does not exist in Jordan," said Zaki Bani Rshied, head of the political bureau of the powerful Islamic Action Front, pointing to the power of the King. At the same time pressure is also coming from the people, which continue to protest although not with a magnitude seen in other Arab countries.

Fayez Tarawneh is appointed by the King to form a new government. He has already been Prime Minister between 1998 and 1999 under King Hussein and was head of the royal court.

Sources
Al Jazeera
BBC
The Jordan Times
Ynetnews.com

Picture of Awn Khasawneh
Source: Flickr by World Economic Forum