US embassy cable - 03AMMAN8605

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 008605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, ECON, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER EASILY WINS VOTE OF 
CONFIDENCE, BUT FACES CHALLENGES AHEAD 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 07507 
 
     B. AMMAN 05245 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (b), (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez and his Cabinet easily 
won a parliamentary vote of confidence December 23 with 85 
out of 110 MPs backing his government.  Twenty-two MPs cast a 
"nay" vote, including all 17 members of the Islamic Action 
Front who chided the government for failing to spell out how 
it would achieve political development and improve the 
economy.  During the debate, MPs made repeated calls for 
greater public and political freedoms, alleviation of poverty 
and unemployment, and an end to corruption.  Some MPs 
criticized Cabinet ministers, though not Fayez himself, with 
Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah coming under particular 
fire, including for alleged corruption.  Legislators also 
warned against increasing taxes or prices of subsidized 
goods.  Fayez continues to enjoy considerable popularity in 
Parliament, but will find it difficult to satisfy MPs' 
demands in the coming months.  End Summary. 
 
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AN EASY WIN 
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2. (U) After more than three days of deliberations in the 
Lower House of Parliament, Prime Minister Fayez and his 
Cabinet won an overwhelming vote of confidence on December 
23.  85 MPs (roughly 77% of the Lower House) voted in favor 
of Fayez's government, while 22 cast a negative vote, 
including all 17 members of the Islamic Action Front (IAF). 
Three other legislators abstained.  Not including the IAF, 
all the parliamentary blocs (which account for approximately 
80 of the 110 MPs) voted for the government, except for two 
members of the Democratic Alliance bloc. 
 
3.  (U) The margin of Fayez's victory closely matches the 84 
votes won by former Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb in August 
of this year (see ref b).  However, while 109 MPs insisted on 
delivering an address during deliberations on Abul Ragheb's 
government, stretching out the process to more than 5 days, 
only 76 MPs chose to speak this time around.  All the blocs 
in Parliament agreed to limit the number of their members who 
took to the floor, save for the IAF whose members delivered 
individual orations. 
 
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ISLAMIST OBJECTIONS 
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4.  (C) Due to Fayez's conciliatory outreach efforts to 
prominent Islamists (see ref a), several political analysts 
predicted that the IAF would at least abstain from the vote 
of confidence, rather than vote against Fayez's government. 
But according to prominent IAF MP Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, 2nd 
District), "We did not hear sufficient answers from the prime 
minister on how his government is going to tackle two 
important issues to us: political development and the 
economic situation." 
 
5.  (U) IAF MPs addressed a variety of issues during their 
turn on the Lower House floor, including fighting corruption, 
applying Islamic Sharia law, combating price increases, 
supporting the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and 
rejecting the MEPP roadmap.  On the cultural side, Nidal 
Abbadi (East Banker, Amman - 6th District) called for the 
government to swiftly counter all forms of "moral corruption 
and degradation," including nightclubs, unisex swimming 
pools, and male-run hair salons for women.  On a more 
political bent, Ali Utoum (East Banker, Irbid - 1st District) 
demanded the revocation of the peace treaty with Israel, 
greater public freedoms, and the end to alleged harassment of 
Muslim Brotherhood clerics. 
 
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YOU'RE OKAY, BUT THEY'RE NOT 
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6.  (U) Although the Islamists withheld their confidence from 
Fayez's government, they made clear that this was not 
connected with Fayez as an individual.  Several IAF MPs, 
echoing many in Parliament, had laudatory words for Fayez and 
his efforts at dialogue with diverse aspects of Jordanian 
society.  MP Abul Sukkar told the press that the IAF's 
decision "has nothing to do with personal issues related to 
Fayez." 
 
7.  (U) While Fayez escaped personal criticism from MPs, his 
Cabinet ministers were not as fortunate.  Head of the 
Democratic Alliance bloc, Mamdouh Abbadi (East Banker, Amman 
- 3rd District) denounced the way the Cabinet was formed -- 
at a private retreat without input from Parliament -- and its 
failure to include ministers from five governorates.  "It is 
not true that the formation disregarded geography for the 
sake of ability," stated Abbadi.  Former Prime Minister Abdur 
Rawabdeh (East Banker, Irbid - 2nd District) also voiced 
concern over the Cabinet makeup, while Ghazi Zaben (East 
Banker, Central Badia) alleged that, "Several incumbent 
ministers have nothing to their credit except a few media 
appearances, clearly stating that competence was not taken 
into account when forming the government." 
 
8.  (U) Other MPs attacked unnamed Cabinet members for being 
too Western and out of touch with Jordanian reality.  IAF MP 
Nidal Abbadi, for example, implied that some ministers were 
lacking in basic knowledge of Jordan, to the point they would 
fail an open-book quiz on the country, and in some cases of 
the Arabic language.  He charged that due to their Western 
leanings, they "cannot recount the names of three villages in 
Jordan; they are also unfamiliar with Amman, especially the 
eastern (i.e., poor, predominantly West Banker) part.  They 
do not even know the prices of basic commodities and may not 
be carrying Jordanian currency." 
 
9.  (C) While Abbadi did not provide any names, it is likely 
that Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah was at least one of 
his targets.  (NOTE: Awadallah told Ambassador that he was 
undoubtedly the primary "lightning rod" for MPs' criticism.) 
Awadallah was specifically mentioned, however, in a scathing 
attack by MP Abdullah Al-Akayleh (East Banker, Tafilah - 1st 
District) who said that Awadallah was a "source of danger" to 
the government and "the godfather" of backroom deals. 
Akayleh asked Fayez to investigate allegations that Awadallah 
had improper ties with the Canadian company that won a share 
in the state potash company, as well as with a business 
awarded a U.S. military contract for food service in Iraq and 
with a company chosen to computerize Jordanian schools. 
During the debate, a total of three ministers were accused of 
corruption. 
 
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MPs SPEAK OUT 
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10.  (U) A recurrent theme throughout the vote of confidence 
debate was political development, with nearly all deputies 
making reference to it in their speeches.  The MPs called on 
the government to fulfill its pledge for greater democracy 
and political freedom.  Controversial MP Abdul Rahim Malhas 
(East Banker, Amman - 3rd District), however, slammed the 
government's political development plan as "a practical lie 
directly translated from a U.S. program on political 
participation in return for assistance to Middle East 
countries launched by U.S. State Department official 
Elizabeth Cheney." 
 
11.  (U) Economic issues also dominated the deliberations as 
MPs urged the government to tackle aggressively the problems 
of poverty and high unemployment.  Several MPs warned the 
government not to raise prices of subsidized commodities or 
increase taxes.  Emad Maayah (Christian East Banker, Madaba - 
1st District), for example, cautioned that the government 
must not "touch the pocket" of Jordanians as "the fury of the 
IMF is better than the fury of God Almighty or the citizen." 
Other MPs spoke out against government plans to privatize 
state industries. 
 
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A HEATED EXCHANGE 
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12.  (U) The third day of debate was interrupted December 22 
when MP Abdul Munem Abu Zant (West Banker, Amman - 2nd 
District) and MP Rawabdeh exchanged insults and accusations 
over the 1999 expulsion of four Hamas leaders from Jordan. 
Abu Zant charged that the government's expulsion decision, 
taken when Rawabdeh was Prime Minister, was 
"unconstitutional."  Rawabdeh angrily replied that, "It was 
part of the commitment to my national duty to protect the 
country's security and I have never tried to avoid carrying 
out my national duty or apologize for it."  The angry verbal 
sparring between the two MPs lasted for several minutes until 
other legislators calmed the men down and restored order to 
the Lower House floor. 
 
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FAYEZ RESPONDS 
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13.  (U) At the end of the deliberations, Fayez gave a 
45-minute address to the Parliament, focusing on his 
commitment to battle unemployment, alleviate poverty, and 
fight corruption.  The government's economic action plan, 
according to Fayez, aimed at achieving a genuine economic 
growth rate of 6% for the years 2004-2006 and an inflation 
rate of 1.8% by the end of 2006.  The government's 
Anti-Corruption Committee will be reformed and strengthened 
to scrutinize government operations, while an empowered Audit 
Bureau will help safeguard both investor and public funds. 
Fayez said he would also concentrate on improving education, 
health care and other social and economic programs. 
14.  (U) Fayez further promised to push ahead with political 
development, adding "May God forgive the brother who 
suggested that we are about to embark on political 
development, transparency and public participation (as) 
answers to an American request."  Outside of domestic issues, 
Fayez pledged "categorical support" for the Palestinian and 
Iraqi people, but reiterated the government's policy against 
the settlement of new refugees, either from Iraq or the West 
Bank/Gaza, on Jordanian soil. 
 
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COMMENT 
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15.  (C) While Fayez easily secured Parliament's vote of 
confidence and enjoys broad popularity, he will be hard 
pressed to satisfy the many demands put forward by MPs. 
Fayez expressed frustration to the Ambassador, for example, 
that some in Parliament apparently expected political 
development to happen "overnight."  Fayez may also come under 
increasing pressure to provide the details of how he plans to 
implement his somewhat vague promises of reforming the 
political system and strengthening the economy. 
 
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