Jordan’s Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit reshuffled his government yesterday, triggering the ire of an opposition that has been demanding the cabinet’s resignation over allegations of corruption.

The Islamist opposition dismissed the reshuffle as a “provocation,” while analysts said it did little to improve the government’s credibility in a country that has seen protests since January calling for general reforms.

King Abdullah II issued a decree approving the first reshuffle of the cabinet, which was formed last February, bringing in nine newcomers, and changing the portfolios of two ministers.

Mazen Saket, who was in charge of political development in the first line-up, became interior minister, replacing Saad Hayel Srur, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Abdullah Abu Rumman, the head of the press and publications department, was appointed information minister, replacing Taher Adwan, a veteran journalist who resigned last month in protest against proposed “restrictive” laws.

Ibrahim Omush and Abdullatif Wreikat were named ministers of justice and health, respectively, after Hussein Mujalli and Yasin Hesban resigned in May over a decision to allow a tycoon convicted of corruption, Khalid Shahin, to leave prison for medical treatment in the US.

Shahin and three others, including a former minister, were sentenced last year to three years in jail over graft payments as part of a $2.1-billion project to upgrade the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Com, which runs the kingdom’s sole refinery.

Last February, the government allowed Shahin to travel to the US – but there was an outcry in Jordan when, last April, he was spotted in a London restaurant.

“The reshuffle is provocative and challenges the feelings of thousands of Jordanians who have been protesting for reforms, including the resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament and early elections,” Hamzah Mansur, chief of the powerful Islamic Action Front (IAF), told AFP.