Jordan's King Dismisses Government

Jordan's King Dismisses Government Amid Protests

HASSAN HAFIDH

Associated Press

Jordan's Royal Palace says the king has sacked his government. Above, Jordanian protesters in Amman on Jan. 29.

AMMAN, Jordan—Jordan's King Abdullah II dismissed his government and named a new prime minister tasked with introducing "true political reforms," following weeks of street protests calling for economic and political change.

The Jordanian monarch bowed to popular pressure to dismiss the government of Samir Rifai, which has been blamed by protesters for recent sharp rises in food and fuel prices and stalled political overhauls.

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The move follows several large protests in the country, inspired by demonstrations that have forced out Tunisia's autocratic leader and threaten the 29-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

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The appointment of the new prime minister, Maruf Bakhit, received a lukewarm response from Jordan's opposition Islamic Action Front. "We want new reform and not a change of faces," said the party's secretary general, Hamza Mansour. Mr. Bakhit served as Jordan's premier from 2005-2007.

The Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, has been calling for a change in the constitution to allow the prime minister and other government officials to be elected, rather than appointed.

Jordan's constitution, adopted in 1952, gives the king the exclusive authority to appoint and dismiss the prime minister.

Despite recent government concessions, including higher fuel subsidies and increased salaries for civil servants, protests have continued in Amman and other major cities.

When he ascended to the throne in 1999, King Abdullah vowed to press ahead with political reforms initiated by his late father, King Hussein. Those reforms paved the way for the first parliamentary election in 1989 after a 22-year gap, the revival of a multiparty system and the suspension of martial law in effect since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

But little has been done since. Although laws were enacted to ensure greater press freedom, journalists are still prosecuted for expressing their opinion or for comments considered slanderous of the king and the royal family.

It wasn't immediately clear when Mr. Bakhit will name his cabinet. He is considered a moderate, who served as Jordan's ambassador to Israel earlier this decade.