US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2933

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, JO 
SUBJECT: ELECTION REGISTRATION OPENS; 622 CANDIDATES APPLY 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 2682 B. AMMAN 2559-02 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (U) Registration for candidates wishing to run in the June 
17 elections officially began on May 18.  Candidates have 
three days to register; afterwards, the GOJ has 4 days to 
verify the candidates meet the requirements to run. 
Political parties have been coy about announcing their 
candidates and some potential candidates have not yet made a 
final decision on their candidacy.  End Summary. 
 
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LET THE CAMPAIGNS BEGIN... 
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2. (C) The three day window to register as a candidate for 
the June 17 Parliamentary elections began on May 18.  By May 
19, the Minister of Interior had received 622 applications 
from potential candidates for the 110 available seats.  After 
the registration period closes, the GOJ will have four days 
to vet the candidates and ensure they are qualified to run 
(for details on candidate requirements, see Ref A). It 
remains to be seen if the Ministry of Interior will deem 
Circassian Toujan Faisal, who has announced her candidacy, 
eligible to run, despite her felony conviction (see Ref B). 
Although officially barred from campaigning until May 18, 
many candidates have been discreetly luring supporters since 
the King reaffirmed in April that elections would be held.  A 
drive around Amman on May 18 revealed that some candidates 
have already put up campaign banners, particularly in the 
hotly contested third district, which includes West Amman. 
Most banners so far have focused on fairly non-contentious 
issues, such as the need for a Palestinian state. 
 
3. (C) Some political parties have been guarded about 
releasing the names and numbers of their candidates.  The 
Democratic Reform Bloc, which is comprised of six political 
parties, announced only a partial list of candidates, most 
likely because centrist parties in the bloc with tribal 
candidates are wary about associating themselves with a bloc 
that includes leftist parties. 
 
4. (C) Post anticipates even more candidates will join the 
race before the May 20 deadline.  Some candidates by May 18 
had still not reached a decision about running and were 
hedging their bets until they could view their competition. 
One tribal contact was waiting to see how tribal politics 
played out before officially submitting his candidacy--he 
preferred to be the tribe's official candidate, but was vying 
with two other tribal leaders for that role.  The 500JD 
candidate fee may deter some candidates from running if the 
candidate views he/she has little chance of winning. 
 
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GOJ READYING ITSELF 
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5. (U) The Minister of Interior, Qaftan Majali, whose 
ministry oversees elections, on May 17 publicly stressed the 
need for "free and fair" elections.  According to the English 
daily Jordan Times, the GOJ has recruited 40,000 people to 
supervise the elections in 45 constituencies.  Majali has 
also asked construction companies and excavation companies to 
halt work from June 1-June 20 to avoid damage to the phone 
lines during election season. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6. (C) Jordan will be the second Arab country to hold 
post-war elections, and is eager to showcase its democracy, 
particulary before the world spotlight focuses on the Kingdom 
during the June 21-23 World Economic Forum. 
GNEHM