AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday accepted the resignation of his embattled prime minister and reportedly tapped a leading reformer as a successor, hoping to quell the largest anti-government protests in recent years, which are also seen as a potential challenge to his two-decade-old rule. Government-linked media said Education Minister Omar Razzaz, a Harvard-educated reformer, has been tapped as Mulki's successor, though the choice was not officially confirmed. Abdullah is the ultimate decision-maker on policy, but he has also positioned himself as a unifying force above the political fray. In the march, which started late Monday, some of the protesters chanted, “No to Mulki, No to Razzaz.”

An umbrella organization for more than a dozen unions and professional organizations said it would go ahead with a planned one-day strike on Wednesday, while several other unions said they would suspend their protests to give the country a chance to solve its problems after the resignation of Mulki. But Friday night, hundreds of protesters were back on the streets outside the prime minister’s office in Amman, calling for the government to fall, AFP reporters said. Several thousand Jordanians marched toward the office of outgoing Prime Minister Hani Mulki overnight and into early Tuesday, demanding the government scrap proposed tax increases which critics say mostly target the poor and the middle class. Public anger has grown over government policies since a steep general sales tax hike earlier this year and the abolition of bread subsidies, both measures driven by the International Monetary Fund. Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel, has navigated years of instability at its borders, including wars in Iraq and Syria and conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The official unemployment rate has risen above 18 per cent, and it's believed to be double that among young Jordanians.
Hani Al-Mulki resigns as Prime Minister of Jordan following protests against economic reforms.