Jordanian jamboree

Ethnic Palestinians and tribal leaders vie for power in Jordan, reports Sana Abdallah in Amman

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In an unusual power struggle within the Jordanian government, Prime Minister Adnan Badran has been struggling to address opposition to his cabinet appointments by a new, mainstream, pro-establishment opposition since the cabinet's formation at the behest of King Abdullah in April.

The problem started when Badran, an academic, named a 26-member cabinet that excluded any names from the prominent tribes of southern Jordan and brought in an economic team, led by the young Finance Minister Bassem Awadallah.

Approximately 48 of 110 legislators in the predominantly pro-establishment tribal-based parliament signed a memorandum against the makeup of the government and threatened a no-confidence vote when the parliament reconvenes after its recess.

The memorandum specified their opposition to the makeup, rather than the agenda, of the cabinet, claiming it had ignored representation from certain areas in Jordan. They also objected to the economic team, most of whose members were ministers in the previous government of Faisal Al-Fayez.

The opposition complained that the economic team, which King Abdullah believed would speed up the political, economic and administrative reforms he desires for the kingdom, had failed not only to improve the standard of living in the country, but had increased taxation and hiked prices of commodities.

The legislators' main objections were against renaming Awadallah finance minister after he had resigned as planning minister two months earlier,