Regional contagion? Jordan's king fires government, West Bank to hold local voteAMMAN, Jordan — Jordan's Royal Palace says the king has fired his government in the wake of street protests and has asked an ex-army general to form a new Cabinet.King move comes after thousands of Jordanians took to the streets -- inspired by the regime ouster in Tunisia and the turmoil in Egypt -- and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai who is blamed for a rise in fuel and food prices and slowed political reforms.The Royal Palace says Rifai's Cabinet resigned on Tuesday.Abdullah also nominated Marouf al-Bakhit as his prime minister-designate. No other details were immediately available.Demonstrators inspired by mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt had called for Rifai's dismissal."(Bakhit) is a former general and briefly ambassador to Israel who has been prime minister before. He's someone who would be seen as a safe pair of hands," said Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East policy studies at London's City University."I wouldn't see it as a sign of liberalization. With his previous premiership, he talked the talk of reform but little actually happened," she said.Under fire from an enraged public over high food prices, Rifai announced wage increases two weeks ago to civil servants and the military in an attempt to restore calm.Protests have spread across Jordan in the last few weeks, with demonstrators blaming corruption spawned by free-market reforms for the plight of the country's poor.Many Jordanians hold successive governments responsible for a prolonged recession and rising public debt that hit a record $15 billion this year in one of the Arab world's smallest economies, heavily dependent on foreign aid.West Bank votesMeantime, in the neighboring West Bank, the Western-backed government said it will hold local council elections "as soon as possible."The move appeared to be a response to unrest in Egypt, where demonstrators have staged days of mass protests against the authoritarian regime. The Palestinian Authority has not held since 2006, leaving the president and parliament members in office after their elected terms ended.Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Cabinet said Tuesday it would set election dates during its next session, probably next week.Fayyad hopes to hold the vote in both the West Bank and Gaza . But Gaza will likely not participate since it is controlled by the rival Hamas militant group. There was no immediate response from Hamas.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.http://2013rainbowroundtable.ning.com/profiles/blogs/regional-contagion-jordans

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