As the cabinet of new Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai takes its oath of office, does this latest change of government signal the possibility of real change, asks Sana Abdallah in Amman Not long after Jordan's King Abdullah II abruptly dissolved the lower house of the country's parliament in late November, just half way through its four-year term, he also dismissed the government of Nader Dahabi in what was a somewhat expected move. What was certainly unexpected was the monarch's choice of new prime minister in Samir Rifai, whom he tasked with forming a new cabinet that would undertake a series of policies entailing political and economic reform. One commentator perhaps relayed the immediate reaction to the news of Rifai's appointment best when she said, "Who is Samir Rifai? I've seen the Samir Rifai School and a Samir Rifai Street in Amman. But who is this Samir Rifai?" This commentator was not trying to be funny, despite the laughter her spontaneous remarks may have drawn. She was not referring to the new prime minister- designate, but to his grandfather, who served in the same post several times from the late 1940s to the 1960s. The fact that Rifai Jr's politically powerful father, Zaid Rifai, also served as prime minister several times in the 1970s and 80s, in addition to presiding over the appointed 55-seat upper house of parliament, or senate, at the time of the younger Rifai's designation, has also drawn more criticism, albeit muffled, than praise. While only a handful of politicians and pundits would publicly blast the choice as promoting a hereditary monopoly of executive power, passed on from generation to generation, and question the merit of the younger Rifai, opposition voices have nevertheless raised questions about how the son will head the executive branch while the father heads the legislative. This is particularly true at a time when the senate remains intact, and the king has dissolved the lower house that was elected two years ago. However, the king's decrees to dissolve parliament, dismiss the government and appoint whom he sees fit to the job of prime minister are fully in line with his constitutional powers, deterring any legal arguments against such moves. In any case, Zaid Rifai submitted his resignation from the senate and announced his retirement from politics just three days after his son's designation and not long after the king renewed Rifai Sr's tenure as senate president. The upper house president's resignation was clearly aimed at paving the way for his son's political career and averting criticism that could hamper the younger Rifai's efforts to form a "harmonious" government that would work towards substantial reforms, which the king had requested in his designation letter. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the Jordanian king had neither accepted nor rejected Zaid Rifai's resignation. However, some critics say that the father's political abdication does not change the family lineage of the new prime minister, who many presume moves in his father's shadow and excels more in running corporations than countries. For the last four years, Samir Rifai has dedicated himself to the private sector, where he has been CEO of JordanDubai Capital and chairman of the corporation's subsidiaries in the field of energy, finance and property in the kingdom. He resigned from these posts when he accepted the role of prime minister. His political role prior to his career in the private sector was confined to the royal court, thus earning him the description of being a "close confidante of the king". Shortly after Abdullah inherited the Hashemite throne following his father King Hussein's death in 1999, Rifai was appointed secretary-general of the royal court, and he is said to have implemented substantial administrative and financial restructuring while holding the post. He also headed the king's press office, and in 2003 became minister of the royal court, holding the post until 2005. Yet, even during his service at the palace Rifai kept a relatively low profile, and he seems to have been suddenly thrust into the public eye by King Abdullah's asking him to form a new cabinet that will introduce the kind of ambitious reforms that have failed to materialise under the last six prime ministers during the current monarch's rule. Despite sceptical voices over Rifai's qualifications for the job, mainstream commentators have called for giving him a chance to focus on consultations to choose his ministers, in which the king has urged him to take his time, and not to judge prematurely what Rifai will do either in terms of his cabinet choices or his future performance in meeting the king's directives. Unlike previous leaks to the press on who would take which portfolio in the country's governments, Rifai has kept a tight lid on consultations, and potential names have not been revealed. This has prompted the country's independent media to suggest the names of over 100 personalities that could make up the new cabinet. Until the day the new 29-member cabinet took the oath of office before the king last Monday, only a few names had emerged, with Jordanian analysts trying to link the name of the personality to his/her political past, family and tribal affiliations, and the area from which he or she hailed, whether from the south, north or east, or from the west bank of the River Jordan, in other words of Palestinian origin. However, independent analysts have also argued that the names are not as important as how far Rifai's team can show itself to be harmonious, competent and serious in implementing the king's plans for reforms. These should start with the planned decentralisation law that would give legislative authority to the regional councils and a new parliamentary elections law "to ensure that the next parliamentary elections are a qualitative leap in our development and modernisation process," according to the king's designation letter. The king has also indicated that the electoral bill, which will have to be passed as a provisional law by the executive, will have to be ready before the last quarter of 2010 in order to hold early parliamentary polls. The monarch has said that he expects Rifai's government, which will obviously not require parliamentary approval in the absence of the legislative body, to submit a "work plan for every ministry with a clear vision" and including an economic plan no later than two months after the government's formation. However, independent analysts in Amman say that the fact that many of the new cabinet members have already served in previous governments leaves little room for optimism that any real change is on the way. The switch, they say, is likely to be routine and in line with Jordan's long- standing tradition of frequently changing governments.
