US embassy cable - 05AMMAN2427

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002427 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, KISL, KMPI, JO 
SUBJECT: GOJ UNVEILS DRAFT POLITICAL PARTIES LAW 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 2378 
     B. AMMAN 2043 
 
Classified By: CDA Christopher Henzel for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) The Minister of Political Development presented on 
March 21 a draft law on political parties.  The law would 
provide public funds to parties with more than 1,000 members. 
 Additional funds would be made available to parties if women 
or young adults exceed 20 percent of their total membership. 
The draft law is open to public comments and will likely go 
through a lengthy process of revision.  It was announced 
after an ABC News interview with King Abdullah in which he 
repeated his call for three or four strong, organized 
political parties in Jordan.  While party leaders have long 
requested public funding, they insist that the GOJ needs to 
allow free political expression if parties are to develop and 
thrive.  End Summary. 
 
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A MUCH ANTICIPATED LAW 
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2.  (U) Following more than a year of speculation (ref B), 
Minister of Political Development Munther al-Shara unveiled 
during a March 21 press conference a draft law that would 
amend current legislation (adopted in 1992) regulating 
political parties.  Shara commented that the law was based on 
dialogue with many of Jordan's political parties and civil 
society institutions, in addition to women's and youth 
organizations.  Representatives from 27 parties attended the 
event and were given copies of the draft legislation for 
their review, along with related financial regulations.  A 
few parties, including the Communist Workers' Party and the 
Islamic Centrist party, boycotted the press conference, 
complaining that they had not been adequately consulted on 
the proposed legislation and that the government should first 
focus its efforts on a new electoral law. 
 
3.  (U) Among its provisions, the law stipulates that parties 
must have at least 200 members (up from the current baseline 
of 50) to be recognized by the government and cannot 
discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, or 
religion.  New parties applying for government recognition 
must receive an answer from the Minister of Political 
Development within 60 days and can appeal a negative decision 
in court.  The law prohibits the use of places of worship, 
union headquarters, charities or clubs for the benefit of any 
political party.  Parties may also not "interfere" in the 
affairs of other states or act in a way that "harms" Jordan 
or its relations with other countries. 
 
4.  (U) With respect to funding, the draft law and 
accompanying financial regulations constitute a major change 
in that they would provide JD 16,000 (about USD 22,400) in 
public money each year to parties with more than 1,000 
registered members, provided that women and young adults 
(ages 18-27) form at least 10 percent of their membership and 
elected committees.  Parties would be eligible for an 
additional 1,000 dinars (USD 1,400) annually if the 
percentage of women or young adult members exceeds 20 
percent; another 1,000 dinars would go to parties if women 
and young adults comprise 20 percent or more of their elected 
committees.  In addition, parties participating in 
parliamentary elections would be entitled to a half dinar for 
each vote garnered by one of their candidates (not to exceed 
50,000 dinars/USD 70,000).  Private funding would be 
restricted to donations from Jordanian citizens with an 
individual contribution limit of 10,000 dinars (USD 14,000). 
Recognized parties would be tax-exempt, but subject to 
financial review by the government Audit Bureau. 
 
5.  (SBU) Shara cautioned that the law was a first draft and 
he invited feedback and proposals for revisions before it is 
put in final form.  He did not provide any date for its 
submission to either the cabinet or parliament for approval, 
only noting that the final version of the law would have to 
be in "harmony" with recommendations made by the royal 
commission charged with developing a "national agenda" (ref 
A).  (NOTE: Given that the national agenda commission will 
complete its work no earlier than September, the draft law 
may not be finalized until 2006. END NOTE.) 
 
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A PARTY-FRIENDLY KING? 
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6.  (U) The unveiling of the draft law comes less than a week 
after an interview of King Abdullah by Peter Jennings of ABC 
News that touched upon political parties.  During the March 
15 broadcast, the King reiterated his view that while there 
are over 30 parties currently on the books in Jordan, none of 
them have any real political platform.  "I don't want 
parliament (members) being elected because they belong to 
this tribe or this village or this particular constituency. 
I want them to be elected on a party political platform." 
The King said that he wanted to "strengthen" parties and that 
he would like to see the current number of parties 
consolidated into "three of four" that would take stands on 
issues such as the economy, social services, health and 
education. 
 
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ICY REACTION 
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7.  (U) Initial reaction to the draft law by political 
parties has been negative.  Hamzah Mansour, Secretary General 
of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), told the press that while 
his party still needs time to "research" the text, he 
believed that the prohibition against interference in foreign 
relations was a clear violation of freedom of expression and 
the Jordanian constitution.  A spokesperson for the "Higher 
Coordinating Committee" of opposition political parties 
(dominated by the IAF) said that the draft legislation was 
undemocratic and represented a government attempt to control 
the internal affairs of parties.  The Secretary General of 
the centrist National Constitutional Party remarked publicly 
that the draft "does not deserve any response," while the 
head of the leftist Hashd Party said the proposed law would 
limit, rather than encourage, the development of parties, 
though he welcomed provisions exempting parties from taxes 
and banning them from using houses of worship. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  (C) The provision of public funding for political parties 
in the draft law should be welcomed by party leaders who have 
long requested such a move.  However, no existing party other 
than the IAF currently meets the funding threshold of 1,000 
registered members.  Preliminary reaction confirms that other 
provisions of the law will be problematic.  The IAF in 
particular may strongly object to the ban on sectarianism and 
the use of mosques and professional association facilities 
for political party benefit.  The prohibition against 
"harming" Jordan or interfering in other states' affairs will 
be seen as a promise of government intervention against any 
party that crosses redlines on leading issues of Jordanian 
politics, such as GOJ relations with the U.S. and Israel, or 
the role of the King and his inner circle. 
 
9.  (C) Party leaders and reform activists have often told 
emboffs that political parties will not develop or thrive 
until the government truly allows freedom of expression and 
loosens restrictions on public gatherings.  They further 
insist that the security services must end harassment of 
those who speak out against government policies if real party 
politics is to develop here.  Leaders of the Islamic Centrist 
Party, for example, recently noted to poloff that it is very 
difficult for them to recruit young members when political 
party activity is banned on university campuses and 
university students admitted through the "royal quota" 
(estimated at up to 30 percent of the student population) are 
asked to refrain from joining any party. 
HENZEL