Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN3273
2002-06-18 08:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

INTERIM LAWMAKING WRAPS UP AS LIKELIHOOD OF

Tags:  PGOV PHUM ECON EAID JO 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003273 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2012
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAID JO
SUBJECT: INTERIM LAWMAKING WRAPS UP AS LIKELIHOOD OF
ELECTIONS INCREASES

REF: AMMAN 2529

Classified By: EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASON 1.5(B) AND (D)

-------
SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003273

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2012
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAID JO
SUBJECT: INTERIM LAWMAKING WRAPS UP AS LIKELIHOOD OF
ELECTIONS INCREASES

REF: AMMAN 2529

Classified By: EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASON 1.5(B) AND (D)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Jordan's Constitution allows the Cabinet to pass
provisional laws when Parliament is not in session, so long
as the laws are sufficiently "necessary." The GOJ has
promulgated some ninety-nine provisional laws in the year
since Jordan's Parliament was dissolved on June 16, 2001.
But provisional lawmaking apparently will soon cease.
Abatement in regional tensions over the past several weeks
has encouraged the view among Embassy contacts that a date
for elections reinstating Jordan's Parliament will be
announced in July, with elections following as early as
September. Given this possibility, Prime Ministry officials
set an internal end-of-June deadline for preparing twelve
more laws for Cabinet ratification. The deadline aims at
avoiding the appearance of an executive usurpation of
legislative power in anticipation of a new Parliament,
although some critics accuse the GOJ of having already
overstepped its legal bounds in the course of its lawmaking
activities over the last year. End summary.

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JORDAN'S LAW OF LAWMAKING
--------------


2. (U) Legislation normally originates with ministries
interested in passing it. An interested ministry forwards
draft legislation to the Council of Ministers (equivalent of
the Cabinet in the U.S.) for initial discussion. The Council
of Ministers revises legislation as appropriate and forwards
it to the Legislative Office of the Prime Ministry, which has
primary responsibility for putting draft laws into final
form. The Legislative Office studies proposed legislation,
reviews it for conflicts with other laws, makes further
revisions, and sends it back to the Council of Ministers for
approval. The Prime Minister refers legislation approved by
the Council of Ministers to the Chamber of Deputies, which
has the power to accept, amend, or reject it, and the Chamber
of Deputies forwards the legislation to the Senate.
Legislation passed by both houses of Parliament goes to the

King, who has the prerogative to ratify and promulgate it
through publication in the Official Gazette.


3. (C) An abbreviated lawmaking process applies when all or
part of the National Assembly is dissolved, as it now is.
Legislation still passes through various drafting stages at
the originating ministry, the Council of Ministers, and the
Legislative Office of the Prime Ministry. But the Council of
Ministers can issue provisional laws with the King's approval
in the absence of a functioning parliament, so long as they
are limited to "matters which require necessary measures
which admit of no delay or which necessitate expenditures
incapable of postponement." Provisional laws have the same
force as regularly enacted laws. However, once back in
session, the National Assembly can approve, amend, or reject
laws promulgated in its absence. Embassy contacts predict
Parliament will only amend a handful of the laws enacted
during the period of its dissolution. One notable exception
will likely be the July 2001 provisional law regulating the
way parliamentarians themselves are elected. Sources say
this law will be scrutinized very closely.

-------------- -
LAWMAKING SANS PARLIAMENT DURING THE PAST YEAR
-------------- -


4. (C) In the year since Parliament was dissolved, the GOJ
has promulgated ninety-nine provisional laws covering a wide
range of topics (e.g., inter alia, education, labor, state
security, traffic). Several weeks ago, we reported that
regional tensions were casting doubt on the likelihood that
parliamentary elections would be held this fall (reftel),and
it appeared that the GOJ might continue enacting provisional
legislation in the absence of Parliament. But tensions have
decreased since our last report, and the announcement of
impending elections on the West Bank has placed added
pressure on the GOJ to hold elections. There is now a
consensus among Embassy contacts that a date for elections
will be announced in July. One source at the Prime Ministry
has said, more specifically, that a date for holding
elections will be announced during the first ten days of
July. Contacts vary in their predictions as to exactly when
elections will go forward; some say elections will be held as
early as September while others say they will take place
later on in the year.


5. (C) Given the likelihood that a date for Parliamentary
elections will be annouced soon, the Prime Ministry has set
an end-of-June deadline by which laws must be prepared for
ratification, or be pushed off for action by the new
Parliament. Jordan's Constitution would permit promulgation
of provisional laws after an elections announcement, right up
until the time when a new Parliament is constituted.
However, Minister of Trade and Industry Salah Bashir says
government officials are anxious to avoid the unseemly optics
that would be associated with an executive effort to
promulgate laws after elections are announced.


6. (C) Legislative Office officials are optimistic that their
internal deadline permits enough time to enact a final set of
twelve provisional laws in advance of an announcement
concerning elections. The Office is hurriedly working on
this final group of laws. The Legislative Office has tabled
other laws now caught in the process of being drafted; work
on these laws will resume once a new Parliament is in
session.


7. (C) In terms of raw numbers, GOJ lawmaking activities
during the past year represent only a modest increase over
the number of laws enacted during the last year Parliament
was in session. Moreover, the passage of new laws has
continued at a fairly even pace over the past year. Contacts
within the GOJ justify the government's lawmaking activities
over the past year on grounds that the Constitution permits
enactment of laws necessary to the normal functioning of
government, even in the absence of Parliament.


8. (C) But others claim the GOJ has taken advantage of
Parliament's absence to push through major and even
controversial economic reform laws aimed at promoting foreign
and local investment. These laws include a
telecommunications restructuring law, a bankruptcy law, a new
companies law, a revised penal law criminalizing support for
terrorism, and revised labor and intellectual property rights
laws. In addition, the final group of twelve laws now being
vetted includes other pieces of important economic
legislation, such as a revised securities law, a revised
properties law, and a law allowing the creation of credit
bureaus.


9. (C) Several former parliamentarians also criticize the
regime more broadly, for promulgating scores of laws without
Parliament. They view the Constitutional power to enact
legislation without Parliament as limited and extraordinary,
and argue that it should be used very sparingly and only when
necessary to avoid crisis. These same contacts rail against
the decision to dissolve Parliament a year ago, and assert
that enacting laws absent Parliament undermines respect for
the rule of law and the legitimacy of laws so enacted.

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COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) The modest increase in the number of laws promulgated
during the past year does not in itself suggest an
indiscriminate rush to circumvent Parliament by passing laws
in its absence. Moreover, a perceived need to carry on the
regular functions of government during a busy period when no
Parliament has been sitting could explain the passage of many
laws promulgated during the last year. On the other hand,
some key legal changes wrought over the past year would have
been controversial and could have been significantly delayed
if Parliament's approval had been required.
Gnehm