On 17 October 2011, he was appointed by King Abdullah II as prime minister of Jordan, replacing Marouf al-Bakhit (who had been accused of corruption during an earlier tenure as prime minister).
His first international match with the Jordan national team was against North Korea in a friendly on March 29, 2011 in Sharjah, UAE when he entered as a substitute for his teammate Ahmad Abdel-Halim, who had to leave the field due to an injury he suffered from.