Hazza' Majali Explained

Order1:11th Prime Minister of Jordan
Term Start1:6 May 1959
Term End1:29 August 1960
Monarch1:Hussein
Predecessor1:Samir al-Rifai
Successor1:Bahjat Talhouni
Term Start2:15 December 1955
Term End2:21 December 1955
Monarch2:Hussein
Predecessor2:Sa`id al-Mufti
Successor2:Ibrahim Hashem
Office3:Minister of Agriculture
Term Start3:1950
Term End3:1951
Office4:Minister of Justice
Term Start4:1951, 1954
Term End4:1955
Office5:Minister of Interior
Term Start5:1953
Term End5:1954, 1955
Birth Date:1917
Madaba, Ottoman Empire
(present-day Jordan)
Death Date:29 August 1960 (aged 42–43)
Spouse:Samiha Rfifan al-Majali
Children:5, including Ayman,
Taghrid and Hussein
Relatives:Habis al-Majali (cousin)

Hazza' Barakat al-Majali (1917  - 29 August 1960) (Arabic: هزاع بركات المجالي) was a Jordanian politician that served as the two-time 11th Prime Minister of Jordan. His first term lasted one week in 1955, his second term lasted from mid-1959 until his assassination.

Education

Majali was born in Madaba, Jordan in 1917.[1] He was the son of a sheikh of the Majali tribe.[1] He attended an elementary school in Ma'een, then transferred to Al-Raba School in Al-Karak, followed by Al-Karak School, and finally to Al-Salt school for his secondary education. Hazza' later studied law in Damascus.[1]

Jordanian government positions

After high school, Majali worked for the Department of Land and Survey followed by the Madaba Court. After that, he studied law in Damascus and returned to Jordan to work for the "Royal Protocol". He was appointed by King Abdullah I as Chairman of the Greater Amman Municipality, then served as the Minister of Agriculture (1950–1951) and as the Minister of Justice (1951 and 1954–1955) under Prime Minister Sameer al-Rifai. He won two Parliamentary elections to represent Al-Karak in the Jordanian Parliament, once in 1951 and again in 1954. He was also appointed as the Minister of Interior (1953–1954 and 1955). Hazza' first served as Prime Minister on 15 December 1955 when King Hussein tried to join the Baghdad Pact, but quickly resigned on 20 December 1955 following popular protests making his first government the shortest lasting government in Jordan's history.[2] He was re-appointed as Prime Minister on 6 May 1959.[3] He picked Wasfi al-Tal to be his assistant during this term. Majali was assassinated at his office on 29 August 1960.[4]

Personal life

Majali married Samiha Rfifan al-Majali, the sister of Habis al-Majali. Together they had 5 children (3 boys and 2 girls). His eldest son, Amjad Hazza' al-Majali, served as the Jordanian Ambassador in Bahrain and Greece, and eventually became Minister of Labor during the government of Ali Abu al-Ragheb. His second eldest son, Ayman Hazza' al-Majali, served as Chief of Royal Protocol for King Hussein in the 1990s until the King's death in 1999, and then served as Deputy Prime Minister during the government of Abdelraouf al-Rawabdeh.[5] His eldest daughter, Taghrid Hazza' Majali, married Prince Muhammad bin Talal, brother of King Hussein, in 1981. His second eldest daughter Zein Hazza' Majali is a businesswoman. His youngest son, Hussein Hazza' al-Majali, who graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, served in the Jordanian military and became head of the Royal Guard under King Hussein in the 1990s, Jordan's Ambassador in Bahrain until 2010[6] the chief of the Jordanian Public Security Department. And the minister of Interior Affairs in the government of Abdullah Al Nsour. http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/interior-minister-resigns

Assassination

At around 10:30 am on 29 August 1960, a bomb exploded in Majali's office,[7] killing him and 11 other people including senior officials in the government. The assassins targeted al-Majali in his regular weekly meetings that he held on Mondays to listen to the complaints of Jordanian citizens and propose possible solutions to their grievances. A number of those who had come to meet him also perished in the explosion. A number of convicts allegedly involved in Majali's assassination were hanged on 31 December 1960.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Yitzhak Oron, Ed.. Middle East Record Volume 1, 1960. 23 January 2013. The Moshe Dayan Center. 324. GGKEY:3KXGTYPACX2.
  2. Web site: Palestine: Information with Provenance . Cosmos. 4 February 2012.
  3. Web site: Business Optimization Consultants B.O.C.. Jordan Government. King Hussein. 4 February 2012.
  4. Book: Eur. The Middle East and North Africa 2003. 2003. Europa Publications. 978-1-85743-132-2. 589.
  5. Web site: King names Rawabdeh to head new government . . Jordan Embassy. 6 March 1999. 4 February 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120217205725/http://www.jordanembassyus.org/030699001.htm. 17 February 2012.
  6. http://www.banglaembassy.com.bh/Embassies.htm Embassies and Consulates in Bahrain
  7. 12 September 1960 . Jordan: Death in Amman . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101008101507/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897527,00.html . 8 October 2010 . 3 February 2012 . Time.