Bakhit starts talks for new govt AMMAN, Jordan: Jordan's powerful Muslim opposition Wednesday urged the country's newly appointed prime minister to step down, calling him the wrong person to introduce democratic reforms and tackle deepening poverty and unemployment. The call came as newly installed Prime Minister Marouf Al-Bakhit started consultation Wednesday to form his government charged with passing reforms and meeting the demands of protesters. “Marouf Bakhit will meet Wednesday and Thursday with Senate President Taher Masri and Lower House Speaker Faisal Fayez as well as heads of parliamentary blocs and committees,” a member of his entourage said. “The composition of the new government should be announced Saturday or Sunday if the consultations go well,” he said. Also, Jordan's King Abdullah II made a surprise visit to an impoverished northern village. It was his first such trip since the unrest broke out in neighboring Egypt, and appeared to be an attempt to defuse popular anger over the country's troubles and portray himself as a caring leader. On Tuesday, Abdullah named Al-Bakhit prime minister, bowing to public pressure from protests inspired by those in Egypt against President Hosni Mubarak. Hamza Mansour, a leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, rejected Al-Bakhit's nomination, saying he “is not the right person for the job.” “Al-Bakhit is a security man, a former army general and ex-intelligence official. He doesn't believe in democracy,” Mansour said. Instead, he said the country needs “a national figure who can tackle Jordan's serious economic and political crisis.” Jordan is grappling with a soaring foreign debt estimated at $15 billion, an inflation rate which has swelled by 1.5 percent to 6.1 percent in December and high unemployment and poverty rates – set at 12 and 25 percent respectively. Mansour also criticized Al-Bakhit for signing off on Jordan's first casino, which the Brotherhood strongly opposed on the grounds that it violated Islamic principles and encouraged vice. The project was later canceled. Many Jordanians see Al-Bakhit, an ex-army major general, as a tough enforcer of security, which goes against their calls for greater democratic freedoms.
