US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2989

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002989 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, SOCI, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S POLITICAL PARTIES: ISLAMISTS, LEFTISTS, 
NATIONALISTS AND CENTRISTS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm.  Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (U) This cable provides background on Jordan's political 
parties participating in upcoming parliamentary elections on 
June 17.  Jordan's political landscape, runs the gamut from 
religious to secular and from left to right, complicated by 
tribal and family loyalties.  The Islamic Action Front, the 
political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, is by far the 
largest, best funded and organized of all the political 
parties.  The other parties, smaller and less well organized, 
often form blocs to field candidates during parliamentary 
elections. 
 
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ISLAMIST POLITICAL PARTIES 
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2. (U) The Islamic Action Front (IAF), by far the largest and 
best organized political party in Jordan, was founded in 1992 
by Muslim Brotherhood members and independent Islamists. 
Membership is estimated to be around 5,000.  There are two 
factions within the party, the "doves" and the "hawks".  The 
doves advocate openness, avoid confrontation with the 
government and believe in constructive opposition regarding 
the MEPP.  Conversely, the hawks are hard liners who oppose 
such a conciliatory policy.  The IAF platform opposes the 
GOJ's peace treaty with Israel and calls for the 
implementation of Islamic Shari'a law.  The IAF boycotted the 
1997 parliamentary elections protesting the so-called "one 
man one vote" voting structure which, it claimed, unfairly 
diluted its true electoral strength.  The IAF has announced, 
however, that although the "one man one vote" structure is 
still in place it will participate in the June elections. 
 
3. (U) Two other political parties round out the Islamist 
political scene in Jordan with membership estimates at under 
100 for each.  The Democratic Arab Islamic Movement (Du'a') 
and the Muslim Centrist party are both moderate in nature. 
The Du'a' party is composed of both Muslims and Christians 
and men and women, its aim being the enhancement of the 
Muslim-Christian relationship.  Its platform supports the 
Palestinian cause, the independence of the judiciary, better 
education opportunities, free media and enhanced economic, 
social, cultural and political domains.  It is one of five 
parties comprising the National Council for Parties 
Coordination bloc.  The Du'a's partners are the National 
Constitution, Al-Ajyal, Al-Ummah and the Greens. 
 
4. (U) The Muslim Centrist party advocates democracy and 
pluralism.  It is open to all members of the society 
regardless of their religion, ethnic origin or affiliation. 
It supports a role for women in society, student movements 
and the economic and political reforms launched 12 years ago. 
 Many of its members are former Muslim Brothers who either 
left the movement or were dismissed due to differences of 
opinion. 
 
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LEFTIST BLOC 
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5. (U) The main leftist party is the Jordanian Communist 
Party established in 1951.  Estimates place membership at 
under 200 for each of the leftist parties.  The party is 
committed to the causes of the masses, defending their 
interests and voicing their aspirations.  The Jordanian 
Democratic Left party was established in 1994 by a former 
Communist party member and sole Communist deputy member in 
the 1989-1993 parliament.  This party seeks to depart from 
the narrow ideology of Stalinism and opposes Jordan's peace 
treaty with Israel.  The Jordanian People's Democratic party 
(HASHD), the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity party and the 
Jordanian Communist Workers Party round out the leftist 
political spectrum in Jordan.  All three follow a similar 
leftist ideology which opposes economic reform programs, the 
Oslo agreement, and Jordan's peace treaty with Israel.  The 
Communist Worker's party also calls on the GOJ to refrain 
from accepting World Bank and IMF conditions on Jordan, 
blaming such conditions for the high rate of unemployment in 
the Kingdom. 
 
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NATIONALISTS 
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6. (U) The Nationalist political parties are offshoots of the 
Ba'thist pan Arab movement.  The main three parties are the 
Jordan Arab Socialist Ba'thists, the Ba'th Arab Progressives 
and the National Action Party.  They all oppose the MEPP and 
Jordan's economic reform programs.  All three had close 
affiliations with the leadership in Iraq and Syria. 
Membership in each party is estimated to be under 200. 
 
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CENTRISTS 
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7. (U) The Centrist parties are the National Constitutional 
Party, Al-Nahda, the Jordanian Generations Party and the 
Greens with members numbering in the hundreds.  The first 
three parties all advocate democracy as essential allowing 
people to exercise their sovereignty and become the ruling 
power by expressing their will and achieving their 
aspirations.  They all support the establishment of a 
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.  The Greens 
focus on Jordan's environmental issues and making Jordanians 
aware of the sources and causes of pollution. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8. (C) Of Jordan's many political parties, the only one 
considered genuinely influential is the IAF.  The rest are 
small and in disarray.  Even with the forming of political 
blocs to improve their chances during elections, infighting 
and dissension within the blocs limit their influence over 
Jordan's political landscape.  Evidence of the 
ineffectiveness of Jordan's political parties is that most 
members in the last parliament ran as independents with no 
political party affiliation and the same result can be 
expected during the upcoming elections.  Many analysts blame 
the GOJ for not promoting a vibrant political environment and 
argue that the government supports such a political 
wasteland.  For its part, the GOJ states that it envisions 
the formation of three political parties, left, center and 
right, as a more viable solution to the current splintered 
political climate.  In our view, while the development of 
effective political parties is an integral part of the 
maturation of democracy in Jordan, it is not something that 
can be done from the top down, but must be an element in the 
larger progress toward a vibrant civil society. 
GNEHM