Accused of being involved in a plot against power, Hamza bin Hussein, half-brother of the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, was under house arrest with his wife and their five children on Saturday.

About fifteen opponents were also arrested in order to neutralize a "threat to the stability of the State".

DECRYPTION

A palace revolution has shaken Jordan since Saturday.

King Abdullah II arrested around fifteen opponents headed by his half-brother Hamza ben Hussein, the former crown prince.

On Monday, the king took the initiative of mediating with Prince Hamza to settle the rift within the royal family, the royal palace announced.

"His Majesty King Abdullah II decided to deal with the issue of Prince Hamza within the framework of the Hashemite family and he entrusted it to (his uncle) Prince Hassan who, in turn, communicated with Prince Hamza and the latter said he adhered to the family's approach ... "the palace tweeted.

Either way, a crisis of this type is highly unusual even within the Hashemite monarchy.

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Many opponents

Such unpacking is indeed a great first for this dynasty which will celebrate its centenary at the head of the kingdom next Sunday.

Until now, she had always taken care to settle family disputes behind the closed doors of her palace, in order to avoid giving her opponents as little hold as possible.

Opponents of which this illustrious lineage is not lacking, this one having reigned for a long time on Saudi Arabia, Iraq then Syria, countries from which it was driven out in turn. 

Jordan remains today the last jewel hanging on its crown, which is no picnic: the country is small, without any real natural wealth, with a population composed mainly of Palestinian refugees but ruled by the Bedouin tribes, the all against the backdrop of a strong economic downturn and a serious migratory crisis.

Indeed, Jordan shares a border with Israel, Iraq and Syria, three neighbors in the grip of a latent conflict or open wars.

Also, maintaining a semblance of balance in such a context is a particularly perilous exercise for King Abdullah.

And while the golden rule that applied to the entire reigning family was not to publicly express his differences on matters of governance, Prince Hamza freed himself from it by ostensibly showing his support for the protest movement. who denounces the corruption of Jordanian ruling circles.

Hence the reaction of his half-brother, the king.

Legitimate from a dynastic point of view

If Hamza ben Hussein's criticisms of the court's lifestyle in times of scarcity were difficult for the monarch to tolerate, it is because they are extremely popular.

But above all, Prince Hamza is not devoid of ambition and remains legitimate from a dynastic point of view.

Indeed, when King Hussein appointed Abdallah, his eldest son, as successor, he also dubbed his younger brother, Hamza, as crown prince.

The latter can therefore potentially replace his brother if the latter were to step aside.

A hypothesis that aroused the fear of Abdallah, who stripped Hamza of this title in 2004 to give it to his son, now 26 years old.

It was therefore absolutely necessary for him to consolidate this transmission before Prince Hamza built himself an alternative stature within the Hashemite line.