Jordan's new prime minister, Bisher Al Khasawneh, is a veteran diplomat and former foreign minister. Reuters
Jordan's new prime minister, Bisher Al Khasawneh, is a veteran diplomat and former foreign minister. Reuters
Jordan's new prime minister, Bisher Al Khasawneh, is a veteran diplomat and former foreign minister. Reuters
Jordan's new prime minister, Bisher Al Khasawneh, is a veteran diplomat and former foreign minister. Reuters

Jordan diplomat Bisher Al Khasawneh faces tough challenges as PM


Mina Aldroubi
  • English
  • Arabic

Veteran diplomat Bisher Al Khasawneh faces tough policy decisions after being appointed on Wednesday by King Abdullah II to lead Jordan's next government, experts said.

Mr Al Khasawneh, 51, who served as the king's policy adviser, assumes the Prime Minister's post after the resignation of Omar Razzaz's government on October 3, in preparation for parliamentary elections next month.

The western-educated diplomat, who holds a doctorate in law from the London School of Economics, also has the challenge of boosting the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Al Khasawneh has extensive experience forging relations with regional and international states during his time as foreign minister, and as a peace negotiator with Israel.

But now he needs to form a Cabinet of ministers qualified to tackle the country’s pressing problems.

Addressing Jordan's economic challenges will be Mr Al Khasawneh's toughest issue, especially as the pandemic has hit Jordan hard, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told The National.

“The economic situation is exceptionally tough with the economy set to shrink by 6 per cent this year, and unemployment just under 25 per cent,” Mr Doyle said.

Jordan also hosts large numbers of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, he said.

If Mr Al Khasawneh fails to address key concerns then Jordanians will “struggle to keep their jobs and feed their families whilst simultaneously having to stomach severe constraints on their everyday lives and freedoms”, Mr Doyle said.

Mr Al Razzaz faced increasing criticism of the way his government dealt with the pandemic and his failure to combat corruption.

He was appointed in 2018 to quell public anger after austerity measures to win IMF support sparked anti-government protests sparked across the country.

After successfully containing the initial outbreak of Covid-19, Jordan is facing an increase in infections during a time of rising public frustration over deteriorating economic conditions and curbs on public freedom.

The country has recorded 20,200 cases and 131 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Health authorities have warned that the kingdom may be forced to impose more closures or a full lockdown should the number of cases continue to surge.

But Mr Al Khasawneh’s first job will be to oversee parliamentary elections due on November 10.

King Abdullah dissolved Parliament last month at the end of its four-year term, requiring Mr Razzaz's government to resign under the provisions of the constitution.

The king said he hoped the new government would improve the country's ability to fight the virus.

"The formation of this government comes at an exceptional time," he said, referring to the fast spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

King Abdullah said the new government should boost the capacity of the healthcare system, which doctors fear could collapse if community spread is out of control.

if you go

The flights

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The trip

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Despacito's dominance in numbers

Released: 2017

Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon

Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube

Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification

Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.

Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards

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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?

The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.

The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.

He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.

He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.

He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.

Key developments

All times UTC 4

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Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device

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SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)

Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)

Lazio v Napoli (9pm)

Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)

Sunday

Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)

Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)

Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)

Torino v Bologna (6pm)

Verona v Genoa (9pm)

Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)

Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)

 

 

Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
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%E2%80%98White%20Elephant%E2%80%99
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jesse%20V%20Johnson%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Rooker%2C%20Bruce%20Willis%2C%20John%20Malkovich%2C%20Olga%20Kurylenko%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars

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