PARLIAMENTARY QUOTA EXPOSES DIVISIONS AMONG

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