Omar Razzaz

Omar Razzaz (; born 17 May 1961) was the 42nd Prime Minister of Jordan from June 14, 2018 to October 12, 2020. He was designated to form a new government on 5 June 2018 after his predecessor resigned as a result of widespread protests against IMF-backed austerity measures in the country. Born in Al-Salt, Razzaz began his schooling in Amman, later continuing his studies abroad. He was director of several national and international institutions. He was Minister of Education in Hani Al-Mulki's government since 4 January 2017, before his designation as Prime Minister. Early life Razzaz was born in Al-Salt, Jordan, in 1961 to Lam'a Bseiso (1923–2011) and Munif Razzaz (1919–1984). He was the second of three siblings, with an older brother and a younger sister. His Syrian-born parents' families had moved to Jordan separately in 1925. His mother Lam'a was a political and social activist in Jordan and Palestine and his father Munif was a physician and politician who was elected Secretary General of the National Command of the Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1965. Munif was imprisoned multiple times by the Jordanian government in the 1950s and 1960s. During Munif's one-year imprisonment in 1963, Lam'a recalls that Omar at the age of two in 1963 used to stare at pictures of his father saying "I want him to come to me". Munif relocated to Iraq in 1977 and became a leading member of the Iraqi Ba'ath, but was later arrested as part of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge. King Hussein had advocated for Munif's release so he can return safely to Jordan, but President Saddam Hussein adamantly refused. Munif died in 1984 during his house arrest in Baghdad, his wife Lam'a claims he was assassinated by the Iraqi Ba'ath after his hypertension medicine was replaced with poison. Education Razzaz was enrolled at AUB’s faculty of engineering from 1979 to 1981, a bachelor's degree from Louisiana Tech University, and holds a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Razzaz holds a PhD from Harvard University in Planning, with a minor in Economics. He completed his post-doctorate at Harvard Law School.