Jordan The Political Elite
King Hussein
Crown Prince Hassan
Queen Nur
In 1989 Hussein remained the single most important person in
Jordan's politics. His political preeminence derived in part from
his skill in dealing with various domestic and external problems.
He has traveled frequently to keep in touch with cross sections of
the population and to establish rapport with his troops, with
university students, and with members of tribes. Hussein's
personalized approach has tended to counterbalance the virtual lack
of independent, institutionalized channels that could serve as
barometers of popular sentiments and attitudes toward the
government. Also, Hussein's frequent visits to foreign capitals
have enabled him to keep abreast of external developments and to
obtain needed financial and technical assistance for his kingdom.
His ability to maintain generally cordial relations with foreign
states has been a critical asset for Jordan, in view of the
country's heavy dependence on external aid.
Hussein has relied upon various political options to
consolidate his power. He has used his constitutional authority to
appoint principal government officials as a critical lever with
which to reward loyalty and performance, neutralize detractors, and
weed out incompetent elements. The Hussein-centered power structure
comprised the cabinet ministers, members of the royal family, the
palace staff, senior army officers, tribal shaykhs, and ranking
civil servants. King Hussein has filled most of the sensitive
government posts with loyal Transjordanians. Since the early 1950s,
he also has appointed to responsible positions Palestinians
supportive of the Hashimites. Beginning in the 1970s, he permitted
an increasing number of Palestinians from families not
traditionally aligned with the Hashimites to be co-opted into
government service.
The Hashimites, the royal family headed by Hussein, form an
extended kinship group related through marriage to several
prominent Transjordanian families. The Hashimite family traces its
ancestry back to the family of the Prophet, and for centuries it
had been politically prominent in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah ibn Hussein Al Hashimi (1882-1951), a son of Sharif
Hussein of Mecca (1851-1931), established the Jordanian branch of
the family in 1921 after Britain had created the Mandate of
Transjordan and confirmed him as amir. London also permitted
Abdullah's younger brother, Faisal (1885-1933), to assume the
kingship of Iraq, another future state set up after World War I as
a British-administered mandate. Abdullah changed his title from
amir to king in 1946, when Transjordan was granted independence.
Following his assassination in 1951, Abdullah's son Talal (1909-
1972) ruled briefly.
Hussein was Talal's oldest son. Before succeeding his father as
king in 1953, Hussein was educated at Victoria College in
Alexandria, Egypt and at Harrow School and the Royal Military
Academy, Sandhurst, both in Britain. In 1955, Hussein married his
first wife, Dina Abdul Hamid al Aun, an Egyptian of Hashimite
ancestry. They had one daughter before their marriage ended in
divorce. His second wife, Antoinette Gardiner of Britain, converted
to Islam and took the name Muna al Hussein. She and Hussein had
four children, two sons and twin daughters. Hussein divorced
Princess Muna in 1973 and married his third wife, Palestinian Alia
Tukan. Hussein and Queen Alia had one daughter and one son before
her February 1977 death in a helicopter crash. In June 1978 Hussein
married his fourth wife, Elizabeth Halaby, an American of Arab and
Swiss descent. He proclaimed her Queen Nur al Hussein (light of
Hussein). Hussein and Queen Nur have four children, two sons and
two daughters. Throughout the 1980s, Queen Nur had a visible and
active role promoting educational, cultural, social welfare,
architectural, and urban planning projects in Jordan.
Hussein has two younger brothers and one sister. His brothers
Muhammad and Hasan had significant political roles in 1989. The
most important Hashimite after Hussein was Hasan, whom the king had
designated as crown prince through royal decree in 1965. Muhammad
was a businessman and was active politically behind the scenes.
Families that were related to the Hashimites included the
politically prominent Sharaf and Shakir families. Hussein's cousin,
Sharif Abdul Hamid Sharaf, was a close political adviser throughout
the 1970s and served briefly as prime minister before his death in
1980. Another member of the family, Layla Sharaf, was Jordan's
first woman cabinet officer, serving as minister of culture and
information in 1984-85. A third cousin, Field Marshal Ash Sharif
Zaid ibn Shakir, was a longtime political confidant who served the
king in many sensitive positions. In December 1988, Hussein
appointed Shakir chief of the royal court and director of the
secret police (Mukhabarat); beginning in late April 1989 he served
for seven months as prime minister
(see Jordan - Political Dissent and Political Repression
, this ch.).
Hussein has been supported throughout his reign by the original
Transjordanian population, particularly the beduin tribes who
revered him as a descendant of the family of the Prophet Muhammad
and as a ruler imbued with those qualities of leadership they
valued most--courage, self-reliance, valor, and honesty. The beduin
have formed a prominent segment within the army, especially among
the senior ranks of the officer corps. Their loyalty helped Hussein
survive a number of crises and thereby served as a stabilizing
force within the country. Nevertheless, since the mid-1980s there
has been evidence of erosion of beduin and Transjordanian support
for Hussein's regime. Significantly, it was primarily East Bankers,
rather than Palestinians, who participated in widespread
antigovernment riots that swept several towns of Jordan in 1989.
Other politically influential individuals were affiliated with
the old East Bank families. For example, Zaid ar Rifai, appointed
prime minister in 1985, was the son of Samir ar Rifai, a politician
who had served several terms as prime minister under the rule of
Abdullah during the 1930s and 1940s and subsequently was a prime
minister for Hussein. Many members of the Abdul Huda, Majali,
Badran, Hashim, Tal, and Qassim families also served the Hashimites
loyally.
Another element of the political elite were the non-Arab
Circassians, the descendants of Muslim immigrants who came from the
Caucasus Mountains in the late nineteenth century and settled in
Amman and its environs. The Circassians allied with the Hashimites
in the 1920s, and since that time leading Circassian politicians
have held important and sensitive positions in the government and
military. The Al Mufti family has been one of the most politically
prominent Circassian families, and one of its members, Said al
Mufti, served as prime minister.
In the 1980s, the influential scions of traditional and
aristocratic Palestinian families known for their Hashimite
sympathies were outnumbered by Transjordanians in almost all top
government posts. The distinction between Transjordanians and
Palestinians tended to be played down, however, because officially
the Palestinians of the East Bank have been accepted as Jordanian
citizens. Palestinians continued to hold an important place in
society as leading merchants, financiers, professionals, educators,
and technocrats.
Data as of December 1989
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