Jordan's Prime Minister Resigns Following Recent Protests

Hani al-Mulki, the Prime Minister of Jordan, resigned from his position following several days of protests in various cities. Protesters gathered in front of the Prime Minister's office on Monday, demanding his resignation. Al-Mulki was summoned by King Abdullah II on Monday, June 3, and reports indicated the possibility of his resignation. Protests against a draft law for tax increases and rising fuel prices have been ongoing since Wednesday in different cities of Jordan. The protesters, supported by labor unions, called for the resignation of Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki. On Monday, nearly five thousand people gathered in front of the Prime Minister's office, while security forces were present in large numbers. On the morning of Monday, Hussein bin Abdullah II, the 23-year-old Crown Prince of Jordan, visited the protest site and spoke with security forces. The Crown Prince told the security forces, "They (the protesters) should be able to express their opinions and it is our duty to ensure their security. We and they are defenders of the King. We want to preserve this country." Last month, the government sent a tax increase bill to parliament, a program supported by the International Monetary Fund as part of "economic reforms." If approved, workers would pay at least 5% more in taxes, and companies would see increases of 20% to 40%. These "economic reforms" were implemented following a $623 million loan from the IMF in 2016. According to official government statistics, the unemployment rate in Jordan is 18.5%, and the World Bank estimates that nearly 13% of the Jordanian population lives below the poverty line, with almost one-third experiencing "seasonal poverty." Jordan, a desert country with limited resources, is heavily reliant on foreign aid. However, while a $3.6 billion aid package from the Gulf Cooperation Council ended in January 2017, no new package has been provided for Jordan. Jordan is also concerned that annual U.S. aid may face delays under the Trump administration, which provides $1.3 billion annually, equivalent to one-third of the country's total budget. The country opposed the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and King Abdullah, who oversees holy sites in Jerusalem, participated in a conference in Turkey recently held in protest against the embassy transfer. Jordan hosts over two million Palestinian refugees, constituting one-fifth of its population, and the reduction of aid from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is another reason for Jordan's financial troubles. Meanwhile, Jordan's neighboring countries, Iraq and Syria, have been embroiled in war in recent years, with hundreds of thousands fleeing to Jordan. Jordan has sheltered nearly 656,000 Syrians and officials say they have spent $10 billion on the Syrian refugee crisis. This country was one of the few that experienced relatively calm days during the "Arab Spring" protests in 2010 and 2011.