Following legislative elections that were dominated by dissatisfaction over the Gaza conflict, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh of Jordan tendered his resignation to King Abdullah II on Sunday, according to official media.
The kingdom’s constitution stipulates that following legislative elections, the administration must step down. The prime minister is chosen by the king, not the parliament, which has little authority.
The Islamic Action Front, the nation’s largest Islamist party, emerged victorious in the poll on Tuesday, securing 31 of the 138 seats in parliament.
The Islamists now have the most representation in Jordan since 1989 thanks to the IAF, a political branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
The party’s win was attributed to voters’ frustration with the state of the economy and Israel’s conflict against Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization, in the Gaza Strip, despite the low turnout of 32%.
Jordan became the second Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, following Egypt, but since the war broke out in October of last year, there have been frequent calls for its collapse.
The majority of people living in the nation are Palestinians.
Since October 2020, Khasawneh, 55, has served as the government’s leader.
The parliament of Jordan has two houses. Apart from the elected legislature, there exists a senate consisting of 69 members nominated by the monarch.
The tourism industry of Jordan, which contributes roughly 14% of the country’s GDP, has been negatively impacted by the Gaza war.
The International Monetary Fund and the United States in particular provide the majority of the aid that the country receives from abroad.
The unemployment rate was twenty-one percent in the first quarter of 2024.
