Jordan appoints new PM after protests

King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday sacked the government of Samir Rifai and named Maruf Bakhit as prime minister. 

A Jordanian official said the monarch officially accepted the resignation of Samir Rifai, a wealthy politician and former court adviser, and asked Marouf Bakhit to form a new cabinet. Demonstrators inspired by mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt had called for Rifai's dismissal. Under fire from an enraged public over high food prices, Rifai announced wage increases two weeks ago to civil servants and the military in an attempt to restore calm. Protests have spread across Jordan in the last few weeks, with demonstrators blaming corruption spawned by free-market reforms for the plight of the country's poor. Many Jordanians hold successive governments responsible for a prolonged recession and rising public debt that hit a record $15 billion this year in one of the Arab world's smallest economies, heavily dependent on foreign aid.