US embassy cable - 03AMMAN4539

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004539 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, JO 
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY QUOTA EXPOSES DIVISIONS AMONG 
JORDANIAN WOMEN 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 4423 B. AMMAN 1191 
 
Classified By: CDA DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) One of the unforeseen aspects of the new women's quota 
in Parliament is that it has exposed cultural cleavages and 
the differing agendas between women who live in urban areas 
and women who live in tribal-based areas.  Neither group 
believes the other represents their collective interests. 
End Summary. 
 
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AMMAN WOMEN CLAIM UNDERREPRESENTATION... 
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2. (C) The formula used for the women's quota has come under 
some criticism since elections--especially from Amman-based 
women who failed to win a seat under the quota.    Laila 
Naffa, a women's rights activist, told the Jordan Times that 
"the government was not serious enough when introducing the 
quota because the distribution was unfair."  The quota did 
yield overrepresentation for areas such as Tafileh, which at 
a little over 85,000 people is the smallest urban area in 
Jordan, but which garnered two of six of the women's seats. 
One successful Tafileh female candidate won only 300 votes in 
her district, but the district was small enough for her to 
have a winning percentage nationwide. 
 
3. (C) Politically active women in Amman, typically more 
progressive than women in tribal areas, have found it 
difficult to relate to the newly-elected women 
Parliamentarians.  Some  ask how women from traditional, 
conservative areas are supposed to represent them.  One woman 
candidate from Amman had rejected running in her tribal area; 
she told Poloff she ran in Amman so her parliamentary career 
could focus on "real issues" and not just on performing 
"wasta" functions. 
 
4. (C) The perceived division goes both ways.  At a luncheon 
for the newly-elected women Parliamentarians, one Tafileh 
winner bitterly complained to the heads of two women-focused 
NGOs that she had never received any support from them.  She 
told Poloff that she was glad no women from Amman won: "they 
are already over-represented."  She also added, "women in 
Amman spend more time on their hair and make-up than anything 
else." 
 
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...BUT ALSO HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME 
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5. (C) While the implementation of the quota may have favored 
women running in smaller, more rural districts, many 
political observers have noted the lack of a coherent 
political strategy and coordination between women candidates 
running in Amman (many of whom competed in the same 
districts, splitting the votes).  Also, criticism has been 
levied that campaigns in Amman were launched too late to be 
effective.  When Poloff asked Salwa Nasser, the NGO 
coordinator for the Jordanian National Commission for Women, 
why women candidates in Amman were unsuccessful, she claimed 
that women had underestimated the influence of the tribes in 
the election. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6. (C) Although the quota was designed to further the women's 
cause in Jordan, so far, it has placed women in urban and 
rural areas at odds.  Each set of women--urban "liberal" and 
rural "tribal"--believe the otehr group will not represent 
their interest.  The suspicion and resentment each side has 
shown for the other may ultimately handicap the efforts of 
women here to build a constituency based on "women's 
interests" unless the two sides can begin to identify some 
common political ground.  Some women candidates, 
inexperienced in politics, appear also to have misjudged the 
predominant influence of tribal factors in these elections. 
HALE