Jordan’s prime minister walked out and a palace aide walked in. On 15 September 2024, five days after the parliamentary elections, King Abdullah II accepted Bisher al-Khasawneh’s resignation and named Jafar Hassan to replace him.
Al-Khasawneh, 55 and a career diplomat, had held the job since October 2020. Hassan was running the king’s office at the time of his appointment. Al Jazeera described him as “a technocrat and former planning minister”, and Semafor called him a US-educated aide with a Harvard degree. He is not a general, and nothing in the coverage suggests a military background.
His first public words were short. “Public service is a great honor and responsibility, which we will carry on with all our capability to serve Jordan and Jordanians,” he said, as quoted by Semafor.
An election that shaped the handover
The vote had gone badly for the establishment’s preferred voices. The Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, won 31 of the 138 seats in parliament, its best result since 1989. Turnout was only 32 percent. Both outlets tied the Islamists’ showing to public anger over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The result changes less than it might appear, because in Jordan the king, not parliament, picks the prime minister. The House of Representatives is elected, but the 65-member Senate is appointed entirely by the king. A royal palace statement told the outgoing government to stay on in a caretaker role until a new cabinet was in place.
What Hassan inherits
The economy is the first problem on his desk. Unemployment stood at 21 percent in early 2024. Tourism, which accounts for roughly 14 percent of GDP, has been hit by instability across the region, and Semafor reported that foreign investment has thinned out since the Gaza war began.
The politics are awkward as well. Many Jordanians are of Palestinian descent, which makes the country’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel a touchy subject at home. Jordan has kept diplomatic relations with Israel since hostilities began in October 2023 while its own population pushes the other way.
Sources
- Jordan's king accepts PM al-Khasawneh's resignation, appoints technocrat
- Harvard-educated technocrat Jafar Hassan named Jordan's prime minister
