According to Al-Hayat, the Jordanian government of Prime Minister Adnan Badran is having further problems surviving a vote of confidence due to recent increases in the price of basic foods (see “The Badran Government Seek the Confidence of Representatives and Opposition Parties Call for Him to Leave,” July 15, but no longer on the paper’s site). This is a partial translation:

…Tens of demonstrators representing the leaders of the parties and the heads of the professional unions demanded the resignation of the government, describing it as “The Hunger Government” and holding up signs rejecting the government’s decision to raise the price of cooking fuel, demanding its retraction and a rejection of its previous acceptance of the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund. They also pressed members of the parliament to withhold a vote of confidence from the government…

The article goes on to say that government and parliamentary sources were “almost at a consensus” that the government would win the confidence vote, but not by a lot. The article notes that of the 110 members less than 60 will likely vote yes, but since the Jordanian constitution requires 56 votes or more to bring down a government, and since some members are expected to be absent or abstain, the liklihood is that it will hold.

Contributed by Kirk H. Sowell of Window on the Arab World, and More!