Jordan's King Kicks Out Government After Protests

King Abdullah II of Jordan bowed to his subjects' demands today and sacked his much-hated prime minister and Cabinet. The king has asked Marouf Bakhit -- a conservative former premier with a military background -- to form a new government.

Abdullah, a close U.S. ally, has come under intense pressure since demonstrations in Egypt and the toppling of the Tunisian regime last month, which inspired a loose coalition of Islamists, secular opposition groups and retired army officials to take to the streets and call for radical economic and political reforms.

Demonstrators protested against rising food and fuel prices, rampant corruption and growing unemployment and poverty rates -- which sit at 12 percent and 25 percent respectively. About 70 percent of out-of-work Jordanians are under age 31.

That list of grievances is remarkably similar to the complaints that fired up protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. But unlike the residents of those North African nations, Jordanians don't want to kick out the man at the top. Abdullah's religious lineage -- members of the royal Hashemite family are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima -- grants him a degree of popular legitimacy and respect that leaders like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who secured power in 1981 thanks to his military connections, lack.

"At this point, the people are questioning Abdullah's tolerance of corruption and some of his political appointments," Francesco Cavatorta, a lecturer in Middle Eastern politics at Dublin City University, told AOL News, noting that only the king has the power to choose the prime minister and Cabinet. "That's different to Egypt and Tunisia, where the actual head of state is being held responsible for what's going wrong in the country."

Over the past month, Jordanians have directed much of their anger at ex-Prime Minister Samir al-Rifai and his cabinet. Opposition critics accused ministers of pocketing profits from the sale of state-run companies and assets under Abdullah's policy of privatization and free-market reform. The premier tried to dampen mounting rage two weeks ago by announcing wage hikes for civil servants and soldiers, as well as $550 million in extra subsidies for fuel and staples such as sugar, rice and gas. Those last-minute reforms were too little and too late.

In his letter of appointment, Abdullah asked new premier Bakhit -- who previously served as prime minister from 2005 to 2007 -- to start "a real political reform process" and "combat all forms of corruption." Ali Habashneh, a retired general who took part in public protests, told The New York Times that the appointment was "wise," adding, "He is the right man to lead the country at this time."

Others are not so sure. The country's powerful Islamist opposition movement, the Islamic Action Front, noted that Bakhit was accused of rigging parliamentary elections in 2007, ensuring that the group lost almost all of its seats in the legislature. "He carried out the worst parliamentary elections in Jordan in 2007," IAF leader Zaki Bani Rsheid told the BBC. "We need a man who is well respected by the people, a man who does not have a history of corruption and oppression. How can he lead political reform?"

The IAF plans to keep on protesting.

For many other members of the opposition, though, the question of who leads the government is irrelevant so long as Abdullah wields almost total political power and is allowed to pick his own prime minister.

"The Jordanian government's powers are fairly limited," Cavatorta says. "They are only charged with implementing the vision of the monarch." And at the moment, he adds, "the king doesn't want to reduce his own power, so the government won't be able to carry out any significant political reforms."

Events outside the country could force the monarch to change his mind. "We've already seen the Tunisians overthrow their president, and if the Egyptians succeed in ousting President Hosni Mubarak, Jordanians might feel confident enough to try and extract further concessions from the king," Cavatorta says. "Abdullah might be pressured to become less of an executive king, and more of a Spanish or Scandinavian style monarch who isn't so involved in day-to-day politics."

Like the rest of the world, Jordanians will continue to keep a close eye on events in Cairo over the coming days.