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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour is preparing for a cabinet reshuffle in the upcoming period, and is conducting consultations in this regard, sources close to the premier said.

The reshuffle, however, is not expected to take place before Eid al-Fitr at the conclusion of the month of Ramadan, which also coincides with the parliament adjourning into recess until October.

Despite earlier statements by Ensour that a ministerial reshuffle will take place upon the return of King Abdullah II from the United States back in March, it appeared that policy circles did not favor the move at the time.

The reports of an expected government reshuffle come a day after the Lower House of Parliament decided to postpone deliberating on a motion of no-confidence in the government.

73 out of 100 MPs present on Wednesday voted in favor of postponing the deliberations.

MPs had previously proposed a no-confidence vote, waving it in the government's face in reaction to the latter's decision to raise electricity tariffs, followed by a 100% increase on taxes imposed on mobile phones and mobile subscriptions.

Earlier in May, 87 MPs signed a no-confidence motion against the government, citing government's lack of action in implementing the House's consensus decision earlier to expel the Israeli Ambassador from Jordan and recall Jordan's Ambassador in Tel Aviv over escalating Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem.

Ensour had previously pledged to carryout a cabinet reshuffle, aimed to re-divide ministerial portfolios that had been merged to reach his 17-minister slim government.

Upon Ensour's second government appointment, the premier had promised a move towards including members of parliament in his government, a move that would bring closer the concept of "parliamentary government," propagated by the king himself and various political figures in the state.

Ensour's "slim" 17-member cabinet was sworn in on March 30, 2013 and won the House's confidence less than a month alter on April 23, with 82 MPs voting in favor of the confidence vote, while 66 gave a no-confidence vote, out of a total o 148 present deputies.

House speaker Saad Hayel Srour had abstained from voting, and one MP was absent.

Yet, and in an effort to win the House's confidence, Ensour worked to convince the deputies that the time is not appropriate yet to appoint MPs in the cabinet, but a number of them were allegedly implicitly promised portfolios in a later reshuffle.

Ensour's retraction from his earlier pledge to include MPs in his cabinet through a reshuffle that would soon follow his formation of the 17-member cabinet, did not pass without criticism and antagonism from a number of MPs who were looking to partake in the government.

The motion to include MPs in government through a reshuffle continued as an option on the table until King Abdullah pulled the initiative.

The delay in carrying out a cabinet reshuffle aimed to extend the duration of this government's term, in addition to volatile relations between the government and the Lower House that witnessed several bumps on the road, with several pushing the relationship to its edge with MPs calling for the resignation of the government and a no-confidence motion.

Sources close to the premier told Ammon News that Ensour is considering a ministerial reshuffle after the Eid holiday, which would coincide with the adjourning of the Parliament's extra-ordinary session, which concludes on August 10.

Meanwhile, the 17th parliament's ordinary session reconvenes on October 10, according to the constitution.

With Wednesday's proposal to postpone deliberating on a no-confidence motion in parliament, in addition to vital and sensitive laws that need to be deliberated and voted on before the conclusion of the extra-ordinary session (including the social security law and the LandLords and Tenants law, among others), it seems unlikely that the Lower House would take a heavy no-confidence move against Ensour's government.

Ensour, on the other hand, would take advantage of the parliament going on recess to carryout his reshuffle, saving his face before the lawmakers he had repeatedly promised to include in his cabinet in the awaited reshuffle.