US embassy cable - 03AMMAN7509

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007509 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: NEW JORDANIAN SENATE:  MORE WOMEN, FEWER 
PALESTINIANS, LOTS OF FORMER MINISTERS 
 
REF: AMMAN 07295 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) The King November 17 appointed a new 55-member 
Senate.  Fourteen senators were carried over from the 
previous 40-member Senate.  In line with tradition, the 
Senate contains a large number of former government 
officials, including 24 former ministers and four former 
prime ministers.  The number of women members increased from 
three to seven, while the number of senators of Palestinian 
origin decreased from nine to seven.  While many of the 
changes exchanged old deadwood for new, the re-appointment of 
Zeid Rifai as president and the inclusion of seven 
progressive-minded women indicate that the King will use the 
body and parliamentary procedure to block lower house 
challenges to his more liberal social reform agenda.  End 
Summary. 
 
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A GROWING SENATE 
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2.  (U) King Abdullah issued a royal decree on November 17 
appointing a new Senate.  While the outgoing Senate contained 
40 members, there are 55 individuals in the new Senate.  This 
represents the maximum number of senators possible as the 
Jordanian constitution limits the size of the Senate to half 
that of the lower house of Parliament (which currently 
contains 110 deputies, up from 80 in the last Parliament). 
 
3.  (U) In keeping with past practice, the new Senate 
includes many former government officials.  Twenty-four of 
the new senators served as ministers in previous governments, 
while four senators held the post of prime minister:  Zeid 
Rifai, Abdul Salam Majali, Fayez Tarawneh, and Ali Abul 
Ragheb.  This compares with 24 ministers and two prime 
ministers in the outgoing Senate.  Fourteen members of the 
new Senate were carried over from the previous Senate, 
including Zeid Rifai who also retained his position as 
president of the Senate. 
 
4.  (U) In addition to former ministers, the new Senate 
contains ex-military officers (including two army chiefs of 
staff), businessmen, bankers, artists and women's rights 
activists.  From the media, three prominent journalists were 
appointed:  Saleh Qallab (former Minister of Information and 
current columnist in the daily Al Rai), Tarek Masarweh (daily 
columnist in Al Rai) and Jihad Momani (chief editor of the 
weekly Shihan). 
 
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MORE WOMEN, FEWER PALESTINIANS 
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5.  (C) The new Senate contains seven women, as compared to 
only three in the previous Senate.  Moreover, unlike the 
female deputies in the lower house of Parliament, the women 
senators are vocal proponents of women's rights and have 
close links to women's organizations.  Whereas nine of the 40 
members of the outgoing Senate were of Palestinian origin 
(22.5%), only seven senators in the new legislative body are 
West Bankers (12.7%). 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (C) King Hussein traditionally used the Senate to move 
respected but aging senior officials up and out of 
government.  With a new lower house in place and willing to 
challenge government policies -- especially on social issues 
-- the appointed Senate takes on greater importance since 
actions taken by the lower house require Senate approval. 
The King used the Senate this fall to prevent the lower house 
from nullifying several socially liberal provisional laws. 
The re-appointment of the Machiavellian Zeid Rifai as Senate 
President makes clear the King's desire to keep control of 
the Senate agenda. 
 
7.  (C) The increased number of women -- mostly from the 
ranks of independent-minded women's activists -- was 
previously alluded to by the King (see reftel) and should 
please women's right activists.  The decreased number of 
senators of Palestinian origin, on the other hand, will be 
noticed among Jordan's large Palestinian community.  The 
names of the new senators follow in paragraph 8.  Further 
biographic information on the new Senate will be provided 
septel. 
 
8.  (U) Zeid Rifai 
Abdul Salam Majali 
Fayez Tarawneh 
 
Ali Abul Ragheb 
Marwan Hmoud 
 
Rajai Muasher 
 
Inaam Mufti 
 
Laila Sharaf 
 
Hisham Sharari 
 
Yousef Hamdan 
 
Awad Khleifat 
 
Yanal Hikmat 
 
Jamal Khreisha 
 
Abdul Razzaq Tbeishat 
 
Aref Batayneh 
 
Fawwaz Abul Ghanam 
 
Abdul Razzaq Nsour 
 
Tawfiq Kreishan 
 
Nader Thuheirat 
 
Salwa Masri 
 
Saadeddine Jumaa 
 
Nayef Qadi 
 
Saleh Qallab 
 
Abdul Rahim Ekour 
 
Mustafa Qaisi 
 
Trad Fayez 
 
Rowaida Maaitah 
 
Abdul Hafez Kaabneh 
 
Subhiyyeh Maani 
 
Kaseb Sfouq Jazi 
 
Issa Reimouni 
 
Hani Kheir 
 
Haidar Murad 
 
Mustafa Fayyadh 
 
Assem Ghosheh 
 
Fathi Abu Taleb 
 
Hani Tabara 
 
Zaid Zreiqat 
 
Fawwaz Abu Tayeh 
 
Jawdat Muheisin 
 
Faleh Tawil 
 
Abed Musa Nahar 
 
Usama Malkawi 
 
Yousef Shreideh 
 
Ayed Adaileh 
 
Mohammad Azaideh 
 
Adel Haddad 
 
Basel Mufti 
Ziyad Sharaiha 
Kleib Fawwaz 
 
Tareq Masarweh 
Nabil Mashini 
 
Jihad Momani 
 
Mai Abul Samen 
 
Wijdan Al Saket 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site 
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page. 
GNEHM