US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6491

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006491 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, ECON, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN PARLIAMENT FINISHES EXTRAORDINARY 
SESSION; LOTS OF TALK, BUT MUCH BUSINESS LEFT UNDONE 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 06027 
     B. AMMAN 05339 
     C. AMMAN 05245 
     D. AMMAN 05012 
     E. AMMAN 04408 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (B, D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) The 14th Jordanian Parliament ended its 75 day 
"extraordinary session" on September 28.  While the 
Parliament discussed a wide variety of topics and took 
several important procedural steps, including the election of 
Speaker, the formation of committees and the approval of a 
new Cabinet, it formally reviewed only 20 of the more than 
200 provisional laws promulgated by the government during 
Parliament's absence.  Several political blocs were formed, 
but only the Islamic Action Front (IAF) represented a 
coherent body with a defined agenda.  Political observers and 
MPs stressed the need for more structured debate and 
attention to issues if Parliament is to complete its review 
of legislation.  The government expects Parliament to ratify 
eventually two provisional laws affecting women's rights 
after it reconvenes in December.  End Summary. 
 
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THAT'S A WRAP! 
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2. (U) The extraordinary session of the 14th Jordanian 
Parliament began on July 16 and was adjourned on September 28 
by Royal Decree from King Abdullah.  During this session, the 
110 MPs of the Lower House (more than 80 of them elected for 
the first time) voted Saad Hayel Srour (East Banker, Northern 
Badia) as Speaker for a fifth time (ref e), and delivered a 
vote of confidence for the government of Prime Minister Ali 
Abul Ragheb (ref c).  The Lower House also formed 14 
committees of 11 MPs each, which, in theory, monitor 
government performance and issue recommendations on pending 
legislation. 
 
3. (U) Although the extraordinary session was convened to 
consider the 200 plus provisional laws adopted since the 
dissolution of the previous Parliament, MPs managed to review 
formally only 20 of them.  Some of these 20 laws were 
ratified, most notably the General State Budget for 2003, 
while others were sent to the appropriate committee for study 
without a vote.  The Lower House initially rejected four 
provisional laws, including the "khuloe" law permitting women 
to divorce their husbands and a provision stiffening 
penalties for "honor killings" (refs a,d). 
 
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CAN WE TALK? 
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4. (C) Parliamentary debates amounted to "organized 
disorder," by our observation.  Although most individual 
sessions are supposed to have an established agenda, in 
reality MPs brought up a wide variety of issues and/or 
questions, leading to discussions that strayed far from the 
designated topic.  Attendance varied widely.  During the 
final day of the extraordinary session, for example, only 60 
MPs were present and covered subjects that included:  the 
recall of Jordan's envoy to Israel, Israeli development of 
weapons of mass destruction, Jordanian detainees in Iraq, the 
privatization of the state potash and phosphate companies, 
the recent victory of Jordan's national soccer team over 
Iran, and an IAF proposal to ban the U.S. film "Bruce 
Almighty" for making fun of God. 
 
5. (C) The Prime Minister and his Cabinet are expected to 
attend every fifth daily session of Parliament to field MP 
questions.  This arrangement works out to about twice a 
month, though in practice it is sometimes more.  Ministers 
complain sharply about the additional demands on their time, 
and the resulting decrease in efficiency, by having to sit 
through lengthy debates that are often not of relevance to 
their portfolios. 
 
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POLITICAL PARTY OR SOCIAL CLUB? 
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6. (C) Within MP ranks, six blocs emerged which encompassed 
approximately 90 of the 110 MPs.  Apart from the IAF (which 
has 17 deputies in Parliament), however, the lack of strong, 
shared goals and the primacy of personal interests limited 
bloc cohesiveness.  In the opinion of the former Secretary 
General of the Lower House and the head of the Jordanian 
Political Science Association, Mohammad Masalha, the blocs do 
not represent genuine political alliances, but are merely 
groups of deputies brought together on the basis of 
relationships rather than a unified political vision.  Only 
the IAF, in Masalha's view, is "working according to a party 
agenda with a defined political program." 
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THREE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES 
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7. (U) A recent article in the local Arabic press presented 
the viewpoints of three diverse MPs on the extraordinary 
session ) one from the IAF, one from the Democratic Alliance 
(the most promising of the MP blocs), and an independent. 
Azzam Al-Hunaidi (East Banker, Amman 1st District), head of 
the IAF bloc in Parliament, struck a mostly moderate tone in 
his assessment.  While noting that it was "still too early to 
judge" the new MPs, Hunaidi characterized Parliament's 
performance during the extraordinary session as "acceptable" 
and stated that there had been decent progress on review of 
the temporary laws.  Hunaidi criticized, however, the 
"ineffective management" of the daily sessions, saying there 
was too much "chaos."  Hunaidi further asserted that 
Parliament needed to be more independent of the government 
and decried strong pressure for personal favors from 
constituents, contending that this took up too much time and 
detracted from the work of MPs. 
 
8. (U) Independent MP Abdul Rahim Malhas (East Banker, Amman 
3rd District) echoed Hunaidi's view that there was weak 
administrative control of parliamentary sessions and said 
that procedural reform was sorely needed for more effective 
debate.  Malhas also agreed that MPs were too distracted by 
numerous service requests from their constituents.  Malhas 
took aim at MPs for their numerous and lengthy speeches 
during the vote of confidence debate (see ref c). 
 
9. (U) Characterizing Parliament as having "great potential," 
Dr. Mamdouh Abbadi (East Banker, Amman 3rd District), leader 
of the Democratic Alliance, nevertheless opined that 
Parliament's performance during the extraordinary session had 
been "okay."  Abbadi asserted that loose control of daily 
sessions and &governmental interruptions8 had hindered 
progress and made MPs hesitant to take strong stands.  Yet he 
predicted that as MPs gained experience, they would become 
more confident in "carrying the message from the public." 
Abbadi also stated that the number of temporary laws 
discussed was "good," taking into account the number of new 
MPs and new committees.  Abbadi saved his harshest words for 
the time demands put on MPs by their constituents asking for 
services.  According to Abbadi, MPs often have no time to 
read laws, session agendas or even the press as they are too 
busy running around between government ministries trying to 
provide requested services. 
 
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GOVERNMENT VIEW 
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10. (C) Ambassador met with Minister for Parliamentary 
Affairs, Tawfiq Kreishan, on October 5 to elicit the 
government's opinion on the new MPs and the extraordinary 
session.  Overall, Kreishan stated that he was very satisfied 
with this Parliament, claiming that it was "the best of the 
last four Parliaments."  Noting that there were more educated 
professionals, lawyers, and ex-generals than in previous 
Parliaments (in addition to six women), Kreishan said that in 
his view, 70-75 of MPs were "very strong."  (COMMENT:  This 
number corresponds roughly to the 84 MPs who supported the 
government in the vote of confidence.  End comment.) 
Kreishan also took satisfaction that there were only 17 IAF 
members in Parliament, and although he admitted that the 
majority of these were &okay,8 he happily observed that the 
number of "opposition" MPs was lower than in prior years. 
(BIO NOTE:  Tawfiq Kreishan is from a large and influential 
tribal family around Ma'an.  He is 56 years old and speaks 
limited English.  He previously served in the 12th Jordanian 
Parliament and was a Minister of Municipal, Rural and 
Environmental Affairs.) 
 
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STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE KING 
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11. (C) During the course of the extraordinary session, King 
Abdullah met with three separate groups of approximately 22 
MPs each, with a fourth meeting held on October 6.  MPs who 
have attended these meetings, as well as Kreishan, 
characterized them as unstructured brainstorming sessions, 
with the King enumerating problems (particularly economic) 
facing the country and soliciting ideas from MPs on how to 
solve them.  Kreishan said that in one meeting, King Abdullah 
told the MPs to "forget I'm the King" and asked them how 
Jordan could better attract foreign investment.  In addition 
to generating ideas, Kreishan remarked that the meetings were 
meant to establish good relations between MPs and the Palace 
and to show that the King is serious about his commitment to 
democracy.  Kreishan noted that King Abdullah is considering 
future meetings with the leadership and/or members of 
Parliamentary blocs. 
 
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A LOOK AHEAD 
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12. (C) Parliament will reconvene for its regular session, 
which should last approximately four months, on December 1. 
One of the session's most important, and potentially 
divisive, tasks will be reviewing and approving the 
government's 2004 draft budget.  Under the Jordanian 
Constitution, MPs will have to select once again both the 
Speaker of the Lower House and the chairmen and members of 
the parliamentary committees.  As before, MPs and political 
observers expect a battle for the role of Speaker between 
Srour and former Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali (East Banker, 
Karak).  Minister Kreishan confided that he thought Srour 
would ultimately prevail.  Several MPs also predicted to 
PolCouns less politeness and more heated words in the 
upcoming session.  As long time MP Abdul Karim Dughmi (East 
Banker, Mafraq) remarked, "the honeymoon is over." 
 
13. (U) Given the large number of provisional laws, it is 
unlikely that Parliament will review all of them before 
adjourning.  Abbadi stated that he expected that "we will get 
through 60-70 laws since we got through 20 in the last two 
months."  Consequently, Abbadi predicted that Parliament will 
have yet another extraordinary session after the regular 
session in order to complete debate on all provisional laws. 
Both the King and the Lower House have a constitutional right 
to call Parliament to convene in an extraordinary session, 
although the King alone holds the right to set the agenda 
during that period. 
 
14. (C) With respect to provisional laws concerning women's 
rights, Minister Kreishan predicted that the "khuloe" law 
permitting women to divorce their husbands would be approved 
by Parliament within two months after it reconvenes. 
Similarly, Kreishan told Ambassador that he had been 
personally charged to work for parliamentary approval of the 
Article 340 amendment stiffening penalties for so-called 
"honor killings" (see ref a), and predicted that it would 
ultimately be ratified by a joint session of Parliament. 
 
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COMMENT 
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15. (C) The return of Parliament after more than a two year 
absence is a welcome development in the gradual process of 
democratization in Jordan.  Yet the extraordinary session was 
certainly not a prime example of an efficient legislature ) 
much more time was spent debating the evils of pop culture or 
the weight of children's school bags (see ref b) than more 
important topics.  This may be partly due to the fact that 
the many first-time MPs are still feeling their way through 
their new surroundings and responsibilities. 
 
16. (C) As evidenced by his recent meetings with MPs, King 
Abdullah appears eager to help "guide" the development of 
democracy in Jordan.  He has often stated that he wants 
Jordan to become a modern, democratic state with active 
political parties.  But herein lies the King's dilemma. 
While he may want to see the creation of genuine political 
parties, he cannot compel MPs to forge strong alliances based 
on nation-wide principles, especially when this may conflict 
with deeply-entrenched individual and tribal interests. 
Similarly, a democratic society cannot be dictated from 
above, but requires the mobilization of citizens who believe 
that their participation in the political process can make a 
difference.  It is questionable, moreover, how strongly King 
Abdullah would embrace a more democratic system if it 
resulted in vigorous opposition to his government's policies. 
 
 
Please visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman or access the site through 
the Department of State's SIPRNET home page. 
GNEHM