Bakhit will join six other former prime ministers in the 55-strong senate, including Jordan’s longest-serving prime minister Zaid al-Rifai, who is also president of the senate.
Al-Rifai is one of three prime ministers who served Abdullah’s father King Hussein to sit in the senate.
The other two are Taher al-Masri and Fayez al-Tarawneh, who was prime minister when Abdullah succeeded Hussein in February 1999.
The king has appointed all of his prime ministers since 2000 to the senate. They are Ali Abu al-Ragheb, Faisal al-Fayez, Adnan Badran and Marouf Bakhit.
The only one of Abdullah’s prime ministers not in the senate is Abdelraouf al-Rawabdeh, who was elected to represent the second district of Irbid in the parliamentary elections on 20 November.