New Goverment, November 27th 2005
1- Dr. Marouf Bakhet Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
2- Ziad Fareiz Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. *
3- Abdul Ilah Khatib Foreign Minister. *
4- Nader Thherat Minister of Municiapal Affairs.
5- Eid Al Fayez Minister of Interior. *
6- Husni Abu Gheida Minister of Public Works and Housing.
7- Khaled Touqan Minister of Education and Higher Education and Scientific Research.
8-Abed Shakhanbeh Minister of Justice.
9- Azmi Khreisat Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.
10-Saeed Darwazeh Minister of Health.
11- Saud Nseirat Minister of Transportaion.
12- Sharif Zoubi Minister of Industry and Commerce.
13- Suhair Al Ali Minister of Planning and International Cooperation. *
14- Khaled Irani Mninster of Environment.
15- Basem Al Salem Minister of Labor.
16- Salem Khaza’leh Minister of Developing Public Sector.
17- Abdul Fatah Salah Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.
18- Mohamad Thafer Al Alem Minister of Water and Irrigation.
19- Akef Al Zoubi Minister of Agriculture.
20- Adel Toweisi Minister of Culture.
21- Sabri Irbeihat Minister of Polotical Development and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
22- Suleiman Tarawneh Minsiter of Social Development.
23 -Muneer Nassar Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.
24- Omar Kurdi Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology
Well one thing is for sure, it’s certainly not a military government.
In “other” news, a Royal Decree has been issued calling the parliament to convene as of 1st of December; confidence vote hunting.
*The Whose Who…
– Veteran diplomat Abdel-Ilah al-Khatib returns to the post of foreign minister. He was a powerful foreign minister between 1998 and 2002 who has since been in the private sector and has strong ties in Washington and moderate Arab capitals.
– Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ziad Fariz, governor of the Central Bank from 1996 to 2000 and former planning minister, will have a bigger say in shaping the country’s economic future. Fariz is a reformist who won the respect of the IMF and World Bank during stints as a key economic decision-maker.
– The only female minister – Suhair al-Ali – retained her post as planning minister. Three other women Cabinet ministers vacated their positions.
– Eid al-Fayez, who hails from the Bedouin tribal, was named interior minister.
– Former information minister in the 1990s, Nasser Jawdeh, will be named government spokesman.
UPDATES:
– Khalaf offers some homegrown opinions on the change
– Lebanon’s Daily Star article
– The Whose Who in the New Government, Profiles
– Hareega says this has all become boring and predictable

Class Photo
What happened to Muasher?!!?!?!?
rami, that was my first question. it should become apparent what his role is (if any) in the days to come
Two comments:
So, in all of Jordan, this government has not been able to find a single woman?
What’s up?
Governments in Jordan rarely last long enough for any minister to act on any good idea he or she may have.