1. In October 1956 during the 1956 elections, the National Socialist Party headed by Nabulsi won a plurality of 16 out of 40 seats in the Jordanian House of Representatives.
21 Facts About Suleiman Nabulsi
1. 2.
Suleiman Nabulsi wanted Jordan to move closer to Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser, but Hussein wanted it to stay in the Western camp.
3.
Disagreements between the monarchy and the leftist government culminated after Suleiman Nabulsi provided Hussein with an expanded list of officers in the army he wanted to dismiss.
4.
Suleiman Nabulsi was forced to resign in April 1957, following an alleged coup attempt against Hussein.
5.
Suleiman Nabulsi was born in Salt, Jordan in 1908, during the Ottoman period.
6.
The ancestors of the Suleiman Nabulsi family were Arabs from central Syria who originally served as members of the elite Ottoman sipahi units that were sent on a 1657 expedition to bring Jabal Nablus under centralized Ottoman rule.
7.
Suleiman Nabulsi graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in law and social studies in the early 1930s.
8.
Suleiman Nabulsi later joined the civil service and eventually became the director of the state-owned Agricultural Bank, a post he held until 1946.
9.
In 1947, Suleiman Nabulsi served as Minister of Finance, then again from 1950 to 1951.
10.
Suleiman Nabulsi was jailed for nine months in the Amman Prison for writing an article condemning the 1948 Anglo-Jordanian treaty.
11.
Suleiman Nabulsi's nationalism had alienated him from King Hussein who had him exiled from the capital Amman to a provincial town.
12.
Suleiman Nabulsi soon became known by many of his supporters as Za'im al-Watani.
13.
In July 1956, Suleiman Nabulsi gave a speech commending Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser for nationalizing the Suez Canal and stressing the importance of Nasser's leadership of the Arab world.
14.
Suleiman Nabulsi entered his party into an electoral alliance with the Jordanian Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party and Jordanian Communist Party to form the National Front which called for freeing Jordan of foreign influence, political, economic, and military cooperation with Arab nationalist states, and aiding other Arab states with their fight against imperialism.
15.
However, they did win twelve seats, making it the largest bloc, and as leader of the NF, Suleiman Nabulsi managed to prevent Jordan from entering the Central Treaty Organization alliance in 1955, then succeeded in getting Hussein to dissolve the parliament.
16.
Suleiman Nabulsi decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and allowed the Communist Party to publish a weekly newspaper.
17.
Suleiman Nabulsi was known to be an admirer of Nasser, and so called for Jordan to join an Arab federation with Egypt and Syria thereby reducing King Hussein to a figurehead.
18.
Hussein initially appealed, but after Suleiman Nabulsi prepared a new list, Hussein sent him a letter warning him that he would be dismissed.
19.
Two days later, Suleiman Nabulsi was pressured to hand in his resignation by senior royalist officials, which he did.
20.
Suleiman Nabulsi was pardoned by Hussein and released on 13 August 1961.
21.
On 28 April 1968, Suleiman Nabulsi headed the Jordanian parliamentary delegation to Arab Parliament Conference in Cairo.