Ex-Army Commander Takes Office as Head of Interim Government in Jordan

King Hussein on Thursday swore in his former army commander as head of an interim government and said that elections will be held soon to replace the Cabinet that was forced to resign during nationwide rioting over prices.

The temporary government leader, Sharif Zayed Shaker, is a longtime adviser to the king. He was the armed forces’ commander in chief until last year, when Hussein made him adviser on security affairs and head of the Royal Court, the formal assembly of the king’s palace advisers.

State-run Jordan TV said that Hussein issued 19 directives to the new government, including calls for freedom of the press, support for the Palestine Liberation Organization and stamping out corruption. The king also told the government to “put an end to the involvement of religion in politics,” an apparent reference to Islamic fundamentalists accused of encouraging the unrest.

Shaker, 55, still holds the rank of field marshal and enjoys high prestige in the army. That should help him in quelling lingering unrest.

The government “will be a temporary one” charged with “overseeing the general elections which will take place very soon,” Hussein was quoted as telling the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Siyassah. They will be Jordan’s first general elections in 22 years.

Last week’s riots, caused by price increases imposed under a government austerity program, killed nine people.