US embassy cable - 05AMMAN709

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000709 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, ELAB, KMPI, JO 
SUBJECT: GOJ CLOSES RANKS AGAINST PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 
 
REF: AMMAN 571 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (C)  On January 26 police broke up an unlicensed rally at 
the headquarters of Jordan's professional associations, 
allegedly beating Islamic Action Front members of parliament. 
 The associations continue to defy the Interior Minister's 
order that they end their political activities.  The 
government's confrontation with the associations has made it 
appear intolerant and placed the opposition in the 
advantageous position of defending free speech.  The King's 
initiative to enhance grassroots democracy (septel) may 
partly protect the government against criticism of being 
anti-democratic, but those proposals look vague and remote 
next to the now daily fare of verbal clashes and more with 
the associations.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
CONFLICT ESCALATES AS GOJ RALLIES ROUND HABASHNEH 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
2.  (U)  The stand-off between the GOJ and the professional 
associations heated up this week after the government refused 
to back away from Interior Minister Habashneh's order that 
the associations cease all political activity.  The 
associations appealed publicly to the King for intervention 
on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, to no avail.  Meanwhile, the 
Professional Associations Council (PAC) vowed that it would 
take legal action in response to the MOI's measures (reftel), 
and the associations called on members to attend a "Jordanian 
Unions Festival" to support their position.  In response, the 
Interior Ministry publicly warned that the event would 
violate the public gatherings law, which requires prior 
government approval. 
 
3.  (U)  The PAC remained defiant.  It refused to sign a memo 
presented by the governor of Amman on January 24 pledging to 
desist from all political activity.  On January 25, 
opposition parties held a forum to discuss the confrontation. 
 Dr. Said Theyab, spokesman for the parties, said the crisis 
stemmed from the "lack of public freedom" in Jordan. 
Outspoken president of the Engineers' Association Wa'el 
al-Saqqa also held a press conference that day, denying 
charges that the associations' involvement in political 
issues has been to the detriment of their members' 
professional needs.  He claimed that 99 percent of the 
associations' work was "professional." 
 
4.  (U)  Meanwhile, the government closed ranks.  After 
postponing a meeting between Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez 
and PAC leaders until January 26, GOJ spokesperson Asma 
Khader announced that Fayez would not meet with them at all 
because of their disregard for recent government warnings to 
abide by the law .  She emphasized that the entire government 
backed Habashneh's actions, which sought to enforce the rule 
of law -- in an effort to dispel rumors that Habashneh was 
acting on behalf of the security services, not the 
government.  "The government respects people's right to 
freely express their opinion within the boundaries of laws 
that regulate such freedoms," Khader said.  "Nobody is above 
the law."  The Cabinet also decided to instruct the Audit 
Bureau to review the associations' accounts. 
 
-------------------------- 
BANNED RALLY TURNS VIOLENT 
-------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  In response to the associations' planned (but 
banned) rally on the evening of January 26, GOJ security 
forces physically prevented approximately 50 association 
members from entering the groups' headquarters complex, 
according to post police contacts.  The police tell us they 
did not arrest anyone, but that some association members 
claimed to be injured and were hospitalized.  An al-Jazirah 
correspondent at the scene reported that security officers 
clashed with association members "away from the cameras," and 
the station broadcast images of hospitalized individuals 
after the confrontations.  According to local press reports, 
police beat several Islamic Action Front (IAF) members of 
parliament.  These MPs, who also are prominent members of 
their respective associations include Ali Abu al-Sukkar, 
Azzam al-Huneidi, and Zuheir Abu al-Ragheb. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Al-Jazirah quoted Badi al-Rafayi'ah, head of the 
PAC's banned anti-normalization committee (and one of those 
hospitalized) as saying: "It is regrettable that we as union 
members go to our home at the union complex in (the Amman 
neighborhood of) al-Shmeisani and are confronted in this 
manner at a time when there are many corrupt people and all 
the forces in the country are being employed to help (IIG PM) 
Iyad Allawi in his election campaign."  Most local papers 
reported the incident on their front pages, with the 
exception of semi-governmental Arabic daily al-'Rai, which 
didn't mention it at all. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
SOME CRITICIZE GOJ'S HEAVY-HANDED TACTICS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U)  Meanwhile, al-Ra'i continued to run commentaries 
supporting the GOJ's position.  Senator Falah al-Tawil called 
on the government to maintain its "firm stand" against the 
professional associations, and Abdul Fattah Touqan criticized 
the "political deceit" of the associations.  The 
English-language Jordan Times took the middle ground, calling 
on the associations' members to weigh in and ultimately to 
allow the judicial system to make the call.  Doing otherwise 
risked the crisis "boiling over," the paper warned. 
 
8.  (C)  Others are (privately) criticizing the GOJ's 
heavy-handed tactics in dealing with the associations.  MP 
and First Deputy Speaker Mamdouh Abbadi, who served as head 
of the PAC in the late 1980s, termed the government approach 
a "mistake," commenting to emboffs that the associations have 
always been engaged in political activity.  He questioned the 
timing of the crackdown, and criticized cabinet "technocrats" 
as out of touch with popular opinion and politically inept. 
 
9.  (U)  Back in parliament, pro-government MPs are gathering 
signatures for a petition calling for an unspecified 
"restructuring" of the professional associations.  IAF 
deputies announced their intention to question Habashneh on 
the parliament floor regarding the beating of union members 
at the banned rally.  However, despite all the brave 
rhetoric, parliament failed to convene a quorum on January 
26, the day during which it was supposed to address the 
crisis. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
10.  (C)  The professional associations' open defiance is not 
surprising, given their history of anti-Israeli and 
anti-American activism.  We expect the GOJ to hold fast to 
continue to back Habashneh's hard-line, setting the stage for 
further potentially violent confrontations.  The King's 
national address supporting political development and 
decentralization (reported septel) may stave off criticism 
that the GOJ's crackdown on the associations is strangling 
political liberalization in its cradle.  But by openly 
confronting the associations in this manner, the GOJ has 
locked itself into a confrontation that puts its adversaries 
on the high ground as defenders of political freedom and 
opponents of U.S. and Israeli policies. 
 
11.  (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
HALE