Gov’t clarifies details of Qatamin’s resignation

AMMAN — The government on Monday clarified the reason for Maen Qatamin’s resignation as labour minister one day after the issuance of a Royal Decree approving the reshuffle of Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh’s Cabinet.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin said that the premier met with Qatamin on Saturday regarding the reshuffle, where Khasawneh told Qatamin that the merging of the labour and investment portfolios did not achieve the envisioned benefits over the past months, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Dudin said that the prime minister offered Qatamin three options: Holding the labour portfolio, administrating the investment file through chairing the Jordan Investment Commission or moving forward with accepting Qatamin’s resignation prior to the reshuffle.

Qatamin agreed to assume the labour portfolio and accordingly was sworn in before His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday as labour minister. Later, social media outlets published reports about Qatamin’s resignation, which was confirmed later in the day.