Jordan's change in government marks an attempt to speed up domestic reforms and improve the country's relations with its neighbours, writes Sana Abdallah in Amman On 5 April, Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his government, led by prime minister Faisal Al-Fayez. The move came in response to a growing crisis with the opposition at home, and amidst tensions with other Arab countries, in particular neighbouring Iraq. In his letter of designation to the new prime minister, veteran academic Adnan Badran, the king instructed speedy political, social and economic reforms, indicating he was not pleased with the previous government's efforts, although he repeatedly stated he "appreciated" them. He also asked the new Cabinet, formed within 48 hours after Badran's designation, to work on relations with the rest of the Arab states. The reasons for the king's decision to change the government were obvious to Jordanians, who since the beginning of the year have witnessed a serious deterioration in the relationship between the state and the powerful opposition of 14 professional syndicates under now-former interior minister Samir Habashneh. The crisis intensified with the former minister's instructions to the security services to crack down on the syndicates' political activities, which included raiding their headquarters in Amman, tearing down anti-Israeli banners, and forcibly breaking up peaceful demonstrations within their premises. The tension with the 150,000-strong member unions peaked when the government submitted a very restrictive associations draft law to parliament, requesting it be given an "urgent status". The draft, which strips their political right to express themselves, unleashed a campaign of widespread protests across the country. After a heated debate in the Jordanian parliament on what to do with the draft bill, its "urgency status" was removed and sent to the legal committee. A deep crack divided the government and the union opposition, the opposition parties, as well as most parliament members. On the regional level, serious tensions arose with Iraq, in which critics in Amman blamed Al-Fayez's government for having badly handled the crisis following what is considered to be the worst single suicide attack since the United States-led invasion of Iraq. On 28 February , a suicide bomber, suspected Jordanian Raed Al-Banna, blew himself up in the predominantly Shia town of Hilla south of Baghdad, killing at least 120 Iraqis. A story in a Jordanian newspaper reporting Al-Banna's family "celebrations" of his "martyrdom" unleashed widespread anti-Jordanian protests by angry Shia Iraqis across their country. They threw rocks at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, burned the Jordanian flag and cursed its king, who had in December already infuriated the Shia after warning of an Iranian-style "Shia crescent" that would extend from Iran, through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The crisis with the Iraqi Shia, the virtual rulers in their country, only seemed to deepen as Amman continued to insist that the bomber was not a Jordanian while powerful politicians in Baghdad continued to insist on a formal apology from King Abdullah himself. By the time al-Fayez's government was fired, the crisis with Iraq had still not been resolved. What seemed to have been the straw that broke the camel's back, however, was Abdullah's visible annoyance with his foreign minister, Hani Al-Mulki, whom he publicly accused of having failed to "clarify" Jordan's initiative proposed to the Arab summit in Algiers last month. Al-Mulki failed to sell the Jordanian proposal, which was supposed to have been an implementation, or revival, of the Arab peace initiative adopted in the Beirut summit in 2002. Many of the Arabs criticised the kingdom for trying to impose its ideas on them, viewing a Jordanian attempt to modify the Beirut initiative as inappropriate in the context of Israel's expansion of settlements in Palestine. However, the king was not dismayed with all his government members, with 12 members of the previous Cabinet in Badran's new one. Furthermore, not to appear too upset with Al-Fayez and in order to dispel any rumours, the king re-appointed him as the chief of the royal court, a position he had previously held before he first became prime minister in 2003. Palace sources said the king chose Adnan Badran, 70, to head a new government because of his "open- mindedness, intellect and experience" in public service. Although Badran, a holder of a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, held a couple of ministerial portfolios during King Hussein's reign, he spent most of his life setting up and heading state and private universities, including Yarmouk University, Jordan's second largest state university, and the state's University of Science and Technology. He was president of the private Philadelphia University when the monarch asked him to form a new government. The make-up of the government, which includes many relatively young, highly educated people, including four women, showed that Badran did not make "regional" considerations. His choice was based, rather, on merit -- or those he believed would be able to do the job of improving conditions at home and with neighbours, regardless of their national or religious backgrounds, and as such included Palestinians and East Bankers. That did not go down well in southern Jordan, where 34 parliament members from the region protested the formation of the new government in a statement on 10 April. In it, they criticised the government for reinstating ministers they accused of corruption, such as Finance Minister Bassem Awadallah and Government Performance Minister Salah Bashir, who were ministers of planning and international cooperation and justice respectively in the previous government. But what appeared to really bother them was the fact that the "southerners" were completely excluded from the new Cabinet. They said the composition of the new government contradicted the king's directives to "relegate more authority to the regions of the kingdom, having excluded any ministers from the south," adding that they would not give their votes of confidence in parliament. The most interesting person to come back as a minister with a hefty portfolio is Bassem Awadallah, who was given the Finance Ministry only two months after he resigned as planning minister from Al-Fayez's government following complaints by mysterious influential figures to the king that he was not answering to anyone regarding aid coming to Jordan and was thus too "autonomous". But analysts said that it might have been Awadallah's personality and background, more than anything else, that drew the wrath of the traditional voices against him. Awadallah, 41, does not come from a well-known Jordanian clan; in fact, he comes from a common Palestinian family. He is self-made, having obtained a doctorate degree in economics from the London School of Economics at the tender age of 23 after having received a BA from Georgetown University. He is a bachelor said to be "married" to his career since he was first appointed in 1999 as the chief of King Abdullah's Royal Court economics unit in 1999. Meanwhile, among the important new faces in Badran's government is the interior minister, Awni Yervas, who had headed the Civil Status and Passports Department since 1996, and who held a top position in the Intelligence Department before that. Optimistic Jordanian analysts said that Yervas, of Circassian origins, was a "logical, articulate and conciliatory" man with a great deal of experience and a figure who would not antagonise the unions. They expected Yervas to rectify the draft bill on the syndicates in a way acceptable to the unions. Despite his former position as a top intelligence officer, Yervas was known to have kept his door open to all throughout his position as chief of the passports and civil status department, listening to grievances and cutting short any red tape. That, for many, indicates that he will be likely to listen to what the opposition syndicates have to say and meet their basic demands regarding their activities. The other new face is Foreign Minister Farouk Qasrawi, who headed the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy when he was asked to join according to the king's designation letter that called for improving Jordan's relations with Arab states. Said to be a "non-controversial" veteran diplomat, Qasrawi is expected to use his expertise to ease tension with the "new Iraq". He told an independent local daily in his first interview that he intended to visit Baghdad soon to reactivate cooperation with Iraq. Qasrawi, who served as Jordan's ambassador to Japan and Germany -- two important donor countries -- was also expected to boost Jordan's position among the Arabs and not to antagonise friends or foes in the future by maintaining a balanced foreign policy that would not upset one party over another.
