The Future of Jordan by Khaled Abu Toameh
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has good reason to be worried about the future of the monarchy in the Hashemite Kingdom. If he fails to implement real political and economic reforms, Jordan could easily fall into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood group or turn into a Palestinian state.
Last week, in an attempt to contain public anger, the king, in a wise move, sacked the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai. But the king’s choice for a new prime minister, Marouf al-Bakhit, has not been equally wise.
Al-Bakhit, a former prime minister and ambassador to Israel, does not seem to be accepted by most of the Jordanian opposition parties, including Muslim Brotherhood.
Even more troubling for the monarch is the fact that many of the kingdom’s tribes, which make up nearly 40% of the population, do not see the appointment of the new prime minister as a step in the right direction. I is hard to see how the king would be able to survive without the support of these tribes, which have long been supportive of the royal family in Amman.