Last update - 00:00 22/11/2007
Jordan's government resigns following parliamentary elections
By The Associated Press
AMMAN - Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit tendered his resignation on Thursday with the expiration of the 26-member cabinet's mandate after parliamentary elections, officials said.
King Abdullah II named former transport minister and liberal politician Nader al-Dahabi to succeed al-Bakhit, who took office two years ago.
Al-Dahabi, 61, heads a special economic zone in the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba.
The new prime minister was announced Thursday Thursday, when the king returns from a brief visit to neighboring Egypt, where he met with President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to coordinate positions ahead of the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference.
Tuesday's poll saw Abdullah's loyalists winning a majority in the 110-seat parliament at the expense of the Islamist opposition who took only six seats - 11 less than what they held in the previous parliament elected in 2003.
Meanwhile, Abdullah appointed top economist and close confidant Bassem Awadallah as chief of the Royal Court, according to a royal decree distributed on the press. The post, which entails overseeing all the monarch's responsibilities, has often been a stepping stone to premiership.
Awadallah, a graduate of Georgetown University who holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics, held several previous ministerial posts, including finance. He replaced Salem al-Turk, who retired.