AMMAN – Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh has resigned, according to officials, just days after a parliamentary election in which the Islamist opposition made notable gains. The resignation follows the election held earlier in the week, which saw significant progress for the Islamist opposition, partly driven by public discontent over the Gaza conflict.
Jaafar Hassan, the current head of King Abdullah’s office and a former planning minister, is expected to be appointed as the new prime minister. Hassan will inherit a challenging economic situation, with the Jordanian economy suffering from reduced investment and a sharp decline in tourism, exacerbated by the Gaza conflict and regional instability.
Khasawneh, who has been in office for nearly four years, had been working on reforms aimed at reversing a decade of slow economic growth, which has hovered around 2% and was further impacted by the pandemic and regional conflicts. The recent election results, showing a stronger presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, could influence Jordan’s approach to IMF-backed economic reforms and its foreign policy direction.