Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh submitted his resignation on Sunday to King Abdullah II, state media reported, after parliamentary elections dominated by frustration over the Gaza war.
Under the kingdom’s constitution, the government usually resigns after legislative elections. It is the king who appoints the prime minister, not parliament which has limited powers.
The country’s leading Islamist party, the Islamic Action Front, came out top in Tuesday’s poll, winning 31 out of the 138 seats in parliament.
The IAF is a political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, and the result gives the Islamists their largest representation since 1989. Despite a low turnout of 32 percent, the party’s success was due to voter frustration over economic problems and Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab state to do so after Egypt. However, since the war began last October, protests have regularly called for the peace deal to be dissolved.
Nearly half of the country’s population is of Palestinian origin.
Khasawneh, 55, has been head of government since October 2020.
Jordan’s parliament is bicameral. In addition to the elected parliament, there is also a senate with 69 members appointed by the monarch.
The war in Gaza has affected tourism in Jordan, which relies on the sector for about 14 percent of its gross domestic product.
The kingdom relies heavily on foreign aid, particularly from the United States and the International Monetary Fund.
In the first quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate was 21 percent.
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