Jordan’s Prime Minister Steps Down After Mass Protests

Omar Razzaz, a member of the Jordanian cabinet, was appointed to form a new government. Razzaz is a former World Bank economist and was education minister in the outgoing government.

Mulki was appointed in May 2016 and given the responsibility of reviving a sluggish economy and business sentiment hit by regional turmoil. Price hikes and tax increases have caused his popularity to diminish.

Earlier this year, he reshuffled his cabinet for the sixth time since coming to power in a bid to tackle widespread frustration over increasing hardship and stagnant growth.

Demonstrations have rocked the Jordanian capital and several other cities since Wednesday against a draft income tax law and price hikes based on recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The protests, the biggest in Jordan in years, widened on Saturday after Mulki refused to scrap a bill increasing personal and corporate taxes, saying it was up to parliament to decide.

Demonstrators who converged near the Cabinet office said they would disband only if the government rescinded the tax bill it sent to parliament last month.

Jordan's King Abdullah II summoned Mulki on Monday hours after around 5,000 people rallied outside his office in Amman, on the fifth consecutive day of protests in the Jordanian capital and other cities.

Jordan, a mostly desert kingdom with few resources, has seen prices of several basic goods and services such as bread, fuel and electricity steadily rise over the past year as it attempts to fulfil austerity measures agreed with the IMF.