(Updates throughout)
By Hiba Al Isawe
AMMAN, April 26 (Reuters) – Jordan’s Prime Minister Awn
Khasawneh resigned on Thursday after barely six months in
office, in a surprise move that politicians said followed an
extended power struggle with the powerful security services.
King Abdullah, who appointed Khasawneh in October to placate
protesters inspired by uprisings across the Arab world, accepted
Khasawneh’s resignation, state television said.
He was replaced by Fayez al-Tarawneh, a U.S.-educated
economist who served as prime minister for several months from
1998 to 1999, when Abdullah came to the throne following the
death of his father, King Hussein.
Khasawneh, 62, was a respected international judge who
pledged to restore trust in the government after months of
protests over rising living costs and stalled political reform
in the resource-poor, pro-Western kingdom of 7 million.
He had been expected to govern until a parliamentary
election due by the end of the year. But politicians said his
six months in office were marked by a struggle with the
intelligence services over the powers of his office.
“The conflict between the centres of power within the
Jordanian state has been resolved in favour of the security
services,” Islamist politician Zaki Bani Rusheid said after
Khasawneh’s sudden resignation.
Khasawneh’s proposed election law drew fire from many sides.
Tribal parliamentarians felt it favoured Islamists, while some
Islamists were unhappy because its proposed party list system
might have curbed the number of seats they could win.
SUDDEN RESIGNATION
Khasawneh was a former chief of the royal court and a legal
adviser to the Jordanian team that negotiated a peace treaty
with Israel in 1994.
A minister who declined to be named said he submitted his
resignation while outside the country in response to a decision
taken in his absence to extend a parliamentary session in which
he was likely to face further criticism over the draft law.
“It was a surprise move. The prime minister was unhappy
about the decision to extend parliament,” the minister said.
Tarawneh’s appointment makes him Jordan’s fourth prime
minister in 14 months. Khasawneh’s brief period in office was
preceded by the equally short premiership of Marouf al-Bakhit.
Bakhit was appointed in February last year, but the
conservative former army general was sacked eight months later
in a move to address calls for faster reforms in the kingdom.
Politicians say King Abdulllah has been forced to take only
cautious steps towards democracy, constrained by the tribal
power base which sees reforms as a threat to its political and
economic benefits.
Some recent protests calling for faster reforms have
criticised the royal family, a rare event in a country where the
king has long been revered and held above politics.
There has been unprecedented criticism from tribal areas
that have traditionally formed the backbone of support for the
Hashemite royal family and provide the bulk of manpower for the
army and security forces.
(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi; Writing by
Dominic Evans; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
