US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2206

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PREL, IS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: FORMER PARLIAMENT SPEAKER CRITICIZES GOJ'S 
HANDLING OF IRAQ WAR PUBLIC RELATIONS, PRAISES ABU MAZEN 
 
REF: AMMAN 1954 
 
Classified By: PolCouns Doug Silliman for reasons 1.5 (B)(D) 
 
1.  (S)  In a lengthy conversation April 8, former Parliament 
Speaker Abdul Hadi al-Majali (please protect throughout) told 
PolCouns that King Abdullah and Prime Minister Ali Abul 
Ragheb have mis-handled their public approach to the war in 
Iraq.  Majali said that the King and PM have "only an 
economic cabinet," the members of which have no political 
credibility or tribal connections with most Jordanians.  "All 
the ministers," he argued, "should be out in villages and 
towns explaining what Jordan is doing in the war and why." 
However, he argued, "the King's economic technocrats" do not 
have the political background, popular touch -- or mandate 
from the King or PM -- to explain the government's political 
policy. 
 
2.  (S)  Majali reluctantly admitted that the current GOJ had 
done a good job of preparing Jordan economically for war: 
there were no fuel or food shortages, no price hikes, no run 
on the dinar or mass layoffs at QIZ factories.  Nonetheless, 
he said, the average Jordanian "doesn't care about this 
economic stuff" when faced with a "huge injustice" like the 
Iraq war.  It is the moral and political issues of the war 
that will be remembered. 
 
3.  (S)  The solution to the government's weak handling of 
politics, he proposed, would have been for the King to 
appoint a new "political" government two or three months 
before the start of the war.  The members of this government 
should have been political figures (like Majali) who had "a 
good tribal base" in either the East Bank or Palestinian 
communities.  This kind of minister, Majali asserted, would 
have been able to "stand in the center of Irbid or Mafraq and 
explain where Jordan's interests lie." 
 
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OPEN LETTER TO THE KING OPENS THE POLITICAL PROCESS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
4.  (S)  Majali proudly noted that he was one of the 
signatories of the March 31 open letter to King Abdullah 
(ref) which criticized GOJ Iraq policy.  He said that he and 
many of the prominent signatories had signed the letter to 
"open the political process" and let the King know they were 
unhappy with the way things were going in Iraq.  "Without a 
sitting Parliament," he argued, "we had no other choice but 
to open a political discussion of the issue."  He confided 
later in the conversation that "the King never talks to us" 
(former senior government officials and politicians).  It was 
only after the letter was published, he asserted, that the PM 
agreed to meet with a group of former PMs to talk about Iraq, 
a request that had been made weeks before. 
 
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DELAY THE ELECTIONS UNTIL PEOPLE FORGET IRAQ 
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5.  (S)  Majali (echoing a sentiment we have heard from many 
in the political class, see septel) lamented the King's 
decision to hold Parliamentary elections on June 17.  "No one 
wants to hear about elections now; they are all thinking 
about TV pictures of dead Iraqis."  Majali fears that "good, 
pro-Jordan" candidates (i.e. not from the Islamic Action 
Front) will have trouble campaigning on local issues while 
their constituents still have war in Iraq "fresh on their 
minds."  "I and other pro-Jordan candidates will have to 
attack the U.S. and the government" to keep pace with the 
shallow but popular anti-war, anti-U.S., and anti-Israel 
rhetoric already coming from Islamist candidates.  The King, 
he concluded, should postpone elections at least into the 
fall so Jordanians have a chance to "calm down" before they 
vote. 
 
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ABU MAZEN IS THE RIGHT MAN FOR PALESTINE 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (S)  Majali was very pleased with the appointment of Abu 
Mazen as the new Palestinian Prime Minister.  Abu Mazen, he 
said, should be able to talk to both average Palestinians, 
and to Israelis -- something Arafat was never able to do.  He 
urged the U.S. to support Abu Mazen, and to press Israeli to 
support him as well.  Majali, however, expressed great 
pessimism about the ability of the Sharon government to offer 
a viable deal to Palestinians.  "I fear (Sharon) will only 
delay, build more settlements and demolish more houses, until 
the roadmap is meaningless." 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (S)  Much of Majali's monologue is self-serving political 
rhetoric from an aging  politician who was close to King 
Hussein, but has been sidelined by the younger, 
economic-focused coterie around King Abdullah.  Nonetheless, 
his basic point -- that the King and PM have focused on the 
economic consequences of the war but have not addressed the 
political with the same attention -- has a large measure of 
truth to it. 
GNEHM