| Jordan Prime Minister Adnan Badran named eight new ministers yesterday in a major Cabinet reshuffle aimed at winning a parliamentary vote of confidence to gain a mandate for imposing reform and slashing oil subsidies. In an unprecedented move, Adnan was forced to change his lineup only three months after he formed his government in April, as the Cabinet came under attack from a group of 53 MPs in the 110-member Parliament. The deputies threatened a no-confidence vote unless the economic team was changed - in other words the deeply unpopular Finance Minister Bassem Awadallah. Awadallah, a controversial figure close to King Abdallah and the US administration, stepped down on June 15 paving the way for the government reshuffle. "Faced with unpopular decisions such as plans to raise oil products by five to 12 percent, the Badran government had to get rid of controversial ministers in order to win public sympathy," an official told AFP. |