Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN7312
2002-12-17 12:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

THE GOJ, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND

Tags:  PHUM PGOV JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007312 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2012
TAGS: PHUM PGOV JO
SUBJECT: THE GOJ, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND
ANTI-NORMALIZATION: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY?

Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM. REASONS: 1.5 (B) and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007312

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2012
TAGS: PHUM PGOV JO
SUBJECT: THE GOJ, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND
ANTI-NORMALIZATION: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY?

Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM. REASONS: 1.5 (B) and (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Since the middle of November, the Jordanian
Government has stepped up pressure on professional
associations to reform, with PM Abul Ragheb aggressively
championing the view that the associations should tend to the
needs of their members instead of engaging in political
activism on controversial subjects. The issue of compulsory
membership in professional associations is once again a hot
topic of discussion among professionals we talk to. In
addition, a November 28 decision annulled the latest
committee elections of the Jordanian Engineers' Association
(JEA) and a GOJ-appointed caretaker committee called for new
committee elections to be held in February. Although the GOJ
released three anti-normalization committee leaders from a
six week "interrogation", it made clear that
anti-normalization activities are illegal and will not be
tolerated. The PM told a meeting of the presidents of the
professional associations that their complicity in organizing
anti-normalization committees and/or activities is unlawful.



2. (C) Street reaction is mixed. Many professionals
support Abul Ragheb's position and also criticize compulsory
membership in the associations, but point to lack of
parliamentary elections (and of strong political parties) as
the ultimate reason for the associations' growing influence
in the political realm. Cynics (of which there are many)
suggest the GOJ is simply desperate to blunt the influence of
Islamists, whose supporters currently sit at the helm of the
most powerful of the professional associations. END SUMMARY

-------------- ---
BACKGROUND: HOW THE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS GOT TO WHERE
THEY ARE
-------------- ---



3. (C) Professional associations in Jordan first emerged in
the 1950s. The associations were given wide latitude by the
GOJ to regulate their respective professions. As political
parties were not given legitimacy in Jordan until 1989, the
professional associations assumed the role of surrogate
political vehicles for their memberships. According to Raiq
Kamel (protect),a leftist former council member of the
Jordan Engineers' Association, the associations were

dominated by leftist, pan-arabist leaderships until 1967.
Since then, Islamists have slowly but surely come to dominate
the leadership of the major professional associations
(engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, doctors, and others).
Currently, the leadership of the majority of the professional
associations consists nearly exclusively of Muslim
Brotherhood members and/or Islamists.


4. (U) The anti-normalization "committee", established in the
mid 1990s, sprung from the ranks of the professional
associations (primarily the engineers' association) as a
small group opposed to relations with ISRAEL following the
signing of the Jordan-ISRAEL Peace Treaty of 1994. The
"committee", which has no official standing in Jordan as a
society or organization, has since grown in size and
influence, particularly since the breakdown of the peace
process in September 2000. It has staged protests and
activities at the professional associations' complex in
Shmesani, and has used "blacklists" of professionals as its
primary weapon of intimidation.


5. (C) All professionals must pay dues to their respective
professional associations in order to obtain, inter alia,
professional licenses and/or business registrations. As the
associations have become increasingly vocal politically,
compulsory membership has not sat well with a number of
professionals, political whose views do not coincide with
those of their association. Former Minister of Health Zaid
Hamzeh (protect) has consistently railed against compulsory
membership in the doctors' association. In an October
meeting with PolOff, he complained that a) many, if not most,
doctors do not subscribe to the political message carried
forth by the current leadership and b) the association has
done less and less over the years to regulate the medical
profession, thus neglecting their GOJ-mandated
responsibility. Hamzeh noted that turnout at the doctors'
association elections is less than 20 percent on average,
indicating apathy and disorganization among the moderate
majority of members. According to Hamzeh, this is what
allows the organized Islamists the ability to win the
elections and operate the association for their political
ends.

--------------
ABUL RAGHEB LEADS CHARGE
AGAINST ASSOCIATIONS
--------------


6. (C) In November, PM Ali Abul Ragheb led a vocal call,
covered in the local press, for the professional associations
to reconsider their manifestations from regulatory bodies to
political machinery. In subsequent conversations with
embassy officials, Abul Ragheb, an engineer by training, has
articulated his point of view with passion and at length.
Media columnists supportive of the GOJ have rallied to the
cause, with Al-Rai running a feature story December 9 on
unemployment among pharmacists, dentists, and engineers. An
accompanying photo of the Professional Associations' Complex
ran with the caption "By setting aside political activities
and by occupying themselves with the true concerns of the
profession, the professional associations would be able to
reduce unemployment."

--------------
COURT ANNULS ENGINEERS' ELECTIONS,
NEW ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY
--------------


7. (U) On November 28, the High Court of Justice annulled
the April elections of the Jordan Engineers' Association
(JEA). The court decision came after a number of association
members protested the elections because they were held before
new amendments to JEA bylaws were published in their Official
Gazette. The court annulled the elections, and appointed a
caretaking committee that announced on December 4 that new
JEA elections would be held in February. Note: The
Islamists won all ten seats in the annulled April elections,
and have held a majority of JEA seats for more than ten
years.

--------------
ANTI-NORMALIZATION COMMITTEE LEADERS
RELEASED, GOJ WARNS AGAINST FURTHER ACTIVITY.
--------------


8. (U) In late November, the GOJ released three members of
the anti-normalization committee (and members of the Jordan
Engineers' Association) after holding them since October 3
for "interrogation". The three members, which included head
of the anti-normalization committee Ali Abu Sukkar, were
detained for distributing anti-ISRAELi posters on school
grounds. The PM told a meeting of the presidents of the
professional associations that their complicity in organizing
anti-normalization committees and/or activities is unlawful.
The Islamic Action Front issued a statement calling the GOJ's
stance "a violation of the public rights in resisting the
threats on the Zionist enemy on Jordan."


9. (C) On December 3, PolOff met with Ousauma Melkawi
(protect),former member of parliament and attorney. Melkawi
criticized the professional associations and the
anti-normalization committee. All professional associations
have been granted the right to regulate their professionals
by the GOJ, he said. Thus, the GOJ has the right to step in
if the associations are not performing the tasks delegated to
them by the GOJ. As for the anti-normalization committee,
Melkawi called it "unethical." "Everyone in Jordan has the
right to a lawyer. But if I, as a lawyer, represent an
ISRAELi businessmen who is here as a result of our peace
treaty, the anti-normalization committee will attack me, and
the JBA (Jordan Bar Association) can suspend me from the
practice of law." Melkawi cited the case of Dr. Ahmad Zobi,
an attorney currently barred from the practice of law because
of his "contact" with ISRAELis. Melkawi also pointed out
that the anti-normalization committee's "intimidation
tactics" are violating Jordanians' right to association. "A
Jordanian businessman can lose his business by associating
with ISRAELis. We have a peace treaty with ISRAEL.
Therefore, the anti-normalization committee is infringing on
our right to do business."


10. (C) For Melkawi, the solution to the issue of
professional associations is parliamentary elections,
followed by legislation calling for reform of the
associations, including the removal of the mandatory
membership requirement for professionals. Melkawi believes
that if the GOJ passes a temporary law stripping the
professional associations of the mandatory membership
requirement, the incoming parliament will be under too much
pressure from the outset to deal with it. There must be a
new parliament, and they themselves must pass new laws
governing the professional associations, he said.

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


11. (C) The tension between the professional associations
and the GOJ is nothing new, but the GOJ appears to be more
serious about confronting long-standing issues surrounding
the associations (and the anti-normalization committee) than
at any time in the recent past. Cynics (primarily of the
Islamist variety) say the GOJ is merely attempting to mute
the voices of opposition. With the extended delay of
parliamentary elections, residual anxiety from Ma'an, and
regional tensions, this conclusion resonates well among the
economically marginalized.


12. Cynicism aside, the mandatory membership requirement for
professionals, many of whom do not agree with the political
agenda of their associations' leadership, would be a
legitimate issue for the GOJ to confront. Addressing the
"blacklist" intimidation tactics of the anti-normalization
committee is also a reasonable and expected concern for the
GOJ. In the long-term, Jordanians will need more healthy
political vehicles through which they can express themselves.
Many here believe that parliamentary elections, and the
rehabilitation of political parties, will go a long way
towards this end.
GNEHM