Jordan to announce new government

A new Jordanian government is expected to be sworn in on Saturday, ahead of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s announcement of who he has selected for state ministerial positions. The news marks the first time Jordan has formed a government through consultations with parliamentary blocs, following calls made by King Abdullah II in an October speech to parliament. Ensour’s new parliament will preside over a four-year term. Observers have predicted a smaller list of 18 ministers tasked with regulating national expenditure and easing recent conflicts within parliament, which have occasionally broken into all-out violence. However, ordinary Jordanians have resisted the new prime minister’s appointment, after his last government raised prices and oil derivatives. Ensour also faces stiff criticism from the country’s burgeoning Islamist movement.