Jordan swears in new cabinet of 28 technocrats, including 4 women - Haaretz

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Last update - 21:15 25/11/2007

Jordan swears in new cabinet of 28 technocrats, including 4 women

By The Associated Press

Tags: elections, King Abdullah

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday swore in a new cabinet of technocrats that included a record four women ministers. The 28-member cabinet is headed by Nader al-Dahabi, who was designated prime minister on Thursday.

Al-Dahabi replaced Marouf al-Bakhit, who resigned following Tuesday's
parliamentary elections that saw Abdullah's loyalists win a majority in the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies.

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The new cabinet, the sixth since Abdullah ascended to the throne in 1999, took the oath of office in a brief ceremony at Amman's Raghadan hilltop palace, according to a royal statement.

The swearing in came shortly before Abdullah headed to Saudi Arabia to coordinate positions ahead of a U.S.-sponsored international peace conference on the Middle East, scheduled for Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.

Al-Dahabi, 61, is a former transportation minister and deputy commander of the air force for logistics who also once headed the flagship national carrier Royal Jordanian. In addition to the premiership, he also took on the defense portfolio.

Most prominent among the new cabinet members is Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir, who previously held the trade and justice minister portfolio, and like al-Dahabi is described as a moderate politician.

At least five others from the previous cabinet also stayed on, including Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez.

Four women were named ministers, compared to just two or three in previous cabinets. The sole female minister in the previous government, Planning Minister Suhair Ali, kept her post.

Women, who make up half of the 5.5 million population, complain they are being deprived of their share in the decision making in conservative, tribal-oriented Jordan, where men have the final say in all matters.

Seven women won seats in this week's elections, though six of those seats were specifically reserved for them.

Abdul Rahim Akour was named a state minister for parliamentary affairs. The former hard-line Islamist leader was a deputy head of the opposition Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest opposition group, until he joined cabinet in 2000.

IAF, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, won six parliamentary seats this week, 11 less than what it had in the previous parliament elected in 2003. IAF nearly won a majority in the legislature in 1989.

But IAF's popularity has since declined because it failed to deliver on its promise to improve living conditions in cash-strapped Jordan, where poverty and unemployment are rampant.

Al-Dahabi has a graduate degree in aeronautical engineering and his brother is Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Dahabi, the Jordanian intelligence chief

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