US embassy cable - 04AMMAN9437

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 009437 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KMPI, KDEM, KPAL, KISL, KWMN, JO 
SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER IGNITES CONTROVERSY OVER 
JORDAN'S ELECTION LAW, CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS 
 
REF: AMMAN 7619 
 
Classified By: CDA Christopher Henzel for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U)  Jordan's interior minister had to backpedal after 
publicly stating that the GOJ will not consider revamping the 
current election law -- which favors tribal, East Bank 
communities at the expense of Jordanian-Palestinians citizens 
-- until the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved.  At 
the same time, he dismayed activists by confirming that the 
GOJ would not revise its law prohibiting Jordanian women from 
passing citizenship to their children and non-Jordanian 
husbands.  Habashneh's comments reinforce skeptics' belief 
that political development will not be a priority for the 
Fayez government.  End Summary. 
 
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HABASHNEH: NO NEW ELECTION LAW WHILE I'M IN CHARGE 
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2.  (U)  Interior Minister Samir Habashneh provoked loud 
criticism on November 21 when he stated publicly that the GOJ 
would not endorse reforming the current election law to more 
fairly represent Jordanian-Palestinian citizens until the 
Palestinian-Israeli conflict (and the fate of more than 1.7 
million Palestinian refugees resident in Jordan) is settled. 
"It is not the right time to discuss reallocating electoral 
districts or removing (parliamentary) quotas," he said. "We 
must wait until things become clear in Palestine." 
 
3.  (C)  Habashneh's comments, offered during a conference on 
political development in Jordan, were not taken well by many 
participants (including members of the Islamic Action Front), 
prompting Habashneh on the second day of the conference to 
clarify that he was only stating his "personal opinion," not 
GOJ policy.  "The government has not backed off from its 
political development agenda," he said, adding: "the Prime 
Minister and his team are working together to come up with a 
political parties and elections law to be presented for 
deliberation to the public."  However, he continued to insist 
that canceling quotas is not a realistic option at the moment 
because "society is not politically mature yet."  (Note: 
Contrary to Habashneh's retraction, the Interior Ministry's 
secretary general told Emboffs on November 9 unequivocally 
 
SIPDIS 
that the Ministry was satisfied with the current Election Law 
and had no interest in changing it.) 
 
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UNWILLING TO DEAL WITH "SEXIST" LEGISLATION EITHER 
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4.  (U)  The Minister further angered many rights activists 
by telling the conference that the GOJ had no plans to amend 
the citizenship law that currently prevents women from 
passing citizenship to their children or their non-Jordanian 
spouses.  "This issue is no longer possible because it means 
offering the citizenship to around half a million 
Palestinians in Jordan."  He told the conference that there 
are about 60,000 Jordanian women married to Palestinian men 
(and around 20,000 Jordanian women married to men of other 
nationalities).  The average number of children in each of 
these families is around 6.5, "which means giving the 
Jordanian citizenship to around 500,000 Palestinians," 
according to Habashneh.  He added that to give these people 
citizenship means Jordan would be settling half a million 
refugees in Jordan "in contradiction with Jordan's stand on 
the right of return for Palestinians." 
 
5.  (U)  When asked by a reporter about the privilege that 
Jordanian men enjoy in passing citizenship to their 
Palestinian wives and children, Habashneh said: "The 
Jordanian Citizenship Law is a sexist piece of legislation." 
However, he said the government is "seriously considering" 
offering citizenship to children of divorced, widowed or 
abandoned Jordanian women who are married to non-Jordanians 
"for humanitarian reasons." 
 
6.  (C)  Women's rights activists are outraged.  Eva Abu 
Halaweh, executive director of the human rights and legal aid 
organization Mizan, says Habashneh's comments are a 
significant step backwards on an important issue, long 
advocated by Jordanian women's groups, and endorsed by Queen 
Rania (who is herself of Palestinian origin).  Jordanian 
National Commission for Women Secretary General Amal Sabbagh 
says Habashneh's statements directly contradict Prime 
Minister Fayez's public commitment earlier this year 
promising to reconsider the issue.  Jordanian Women's Union 
President Amneh Zu'bi, whose organization provides legal aid 
to needy women, says "most of the tough cases we have been 
handling are those of Jordanian women married to Palestinians 
who suffer from various burdens because they do not enjoy 
their full rights."  She notes that these families suffer 
many hardships: they must pay large fees for visas and 
residency permits for their children and husbands.  They also 
are forced to travel between police stations and health 
clinics annually to obtain security clearances and medical 
reports for their "foreign" children. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C)  Habashneh took controversial public positions on 
unlicensed preachers in September (reftel) only to make an 
embarrassing public climb-down within days.  Some may dismiss 
this week's episode as mere clumsiness.  However, to 
disillusioned advocates of political reform in Jordan, 
Habashneh's statements confirmed what critics had suspected 
for months: despite its public promises to revamp these 
controversial laws, in reality, the Fayez government is not 
willing to take any steps that might begin to undermine East 
Bankers' political ascendancy.  The fray also underscores how 
the ostensibly regional Israeli-Palestinian conflict has 
decidedly domestic implications for Jordan's political and 
social development. 
8.  (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Please visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site through 
the Department of State's SIPRNET home page. 
HENZEL