JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER EASILY WINS VOTE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 008605

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ECON JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER EASILY WINS VOTE OF
CONFIDENCE, BUT FACES CHALLENGES AHEAD

REF: A. AMMAN 07507


B. AMMAN 05245

Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (b),(d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez and his Cabinet easily
won a parliamentary vote of confidence December 23 with 85
out of 110 MPs backing his government. Twenty-two MPs cast a
"nay" vote, including all 17 members of the Islamic Action
Front who chided the government for failing to spell out how
it would achieve political development and improve the
economy. During the debate, MPs made repeated calls for
greater public and political freedoms, alleviation of poverty
and unemployment, and an end to corruption. Some MPs
criticized Cabinet ministers, though not Fayez himself, with
Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah coming under particular
fire, including for alleged corruption. Legislators also
warned against increasing taxes or prices of subsidized
goods. Fayez continues to enjoy considerable popularity in
Parliament, but will find it difficult to satisfy MPs'
demands in the coming months. End Summary.

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AN EASY WIN
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2. (U) After more than three days of deliberations in the
Lower House of Parliament, Prime Minister Fayez and his
Cabinet won an overwhelming vote of confidence on December

23. 85 MPs (roughly 77% of the Lower House) voted in favor
of Fayez's government, while 22 cast a negative vote,
including all 17 members of the Islamic Action Front (IAF).
Three other legislators abstained. Not including the IAF,
all the parliamentary blocs (which account for approximately
80 of the 110 MPs) voted for the government, except for two
members of the Democratic Alliance bloc.


3. (U) The margin of Fayez's victory closely matches the 84
votes won by former Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb in August
of this year (see ref b). However, while 109 MPs insisted on
delivering an address during deliberations on Abul Ragheb's
government, stretching out the process to more than 5 days,
only 76 MPs chose to speak this time around. All the blocs
in Parliament agreed to limit the number of their members who
took to the floor, save for the IAF whose members delivered
individual orations.

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ISLAMIST OBJECTIONS
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4. (C) Due to Fayez's conciliatory outreach efforts to
prominent Islamists (see ref a),several political analysts
predicted that the IAF would at least abstain from the vote
of confidence, rather than vote against Fayez's government.
But according to prominent IAF MP Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, 2nd
District),"We did not hear sufficient answers from the prime
minister on how his government is going to tackle two
important issues to us: political development and the
economic situation."


5. (U) IAF MPs addressed a variety of issues during their
turn on the Lower House floor, including fighting corruption,
applying Islamic Sharia law, combating price increases,
supporting the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and
rejecting the MEPP roadmap. On the cultural side, Nidal
Abbadi (East Banker, Amman - 6th District) called for the
government to swiftly counter all forms of "moral corruption
and degradation," including nightclubs, unisex swimming
pools, and male-run hair salons for women. On a more
political bent, Ali Utoum (East Banker, Irbid - 1st District)
demanded the revocation of the peace treaty with Israel,
greater public freedoms, and the end to alleged harassment of
Muslim Brotherhood clerics.

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YOU'RE OKAY, BUT THEY'RE NOT
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6. (U) Although the Islamists withheld their confidence from
Fayez's government, they made clear that this was not
connected with Fayez as an individual. Several IAF MPs,
echoing many in Parliament, had laudatory words for Fayez and
his efforts at dialogue with diverse aspects of Jordanian
society. MP Abul Sukkar told the press that the IAF's
decision "has nothing to do with personal issues related to
Fayez."


7. (U) While Fayez escaped personal criticism from MPs, his
Cabinet ministers were not as fortunate. Head of the
Democratic Alliance bloc, Mamdouh Abbadi (East Banker, Amman
- 3rd District) denounced the way the Cabinet was formed --
at a private retreat without input from Parliament -- and its
failure to include ministers from five governorates. "It is
not true that the formation disregarded geography for the
sake of ability," stated Abbadi. Former Prime Minister Abdur
Rawabdeh (East Banker, Irbid - 2nd District) also voiced
concern over the Cabinet makeup, while Ghazi Zaben (East
Banker, Central Badia) alleged that, "Several incumbent
ministers have nothing to their credit except a few media
appearances, clearly stating that competence was not taken
into account when forming the government."


8. (U) Other MPs attacked unnamed Cabinet members for being
too Western and out of touch with Jordanian reality. IAF MP
Nidal Abbadi, for example, implied that some ministers were
lacking in basic knowledge of Jordan, to the point they would
fail an open-book quiz on the country, and in some cases of
the Arabic language. He charged that due to their Western
leanings, they "cannot recount the names of three villages in
Jordan; they are also unfamiliar with Amman, especially the
eastern (i.e., poor, predominantly West Banker) part. They
do not even know the prices of basic commodities and may not
be carrying Jordanian currency."


9. (C) While Abbadi did not provide any names, it is likely
that Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah was at least one of
his targets. (NOTE: Awadallah told Ambassador that he was
undoubtedly the primary "lightning rod" for MPs' criticism.)
Awadallah was specifically mentioned, however, in a scathing
attack by MP Abdullah Al-Akayleh (East Banker, Tafilah - 1st
District) who said that Awadallah was a "source of danger" to
the government and "the godfather" of backroom deals.
Akayleh asked Fayez to investigate allegations that Awadallah
had improper ties with the Canadian company that won a share
in the state potash company, as well as with a business
awarded a U.S. military contract for food service in Iraq and
with a company chosen to computerize Jordanian schools.
During the debate, a total of three ministers were accused of
corruption.

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MPs SPEAK OUT
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10. (U) A recurrent theme throughout the vote of confidence
debate was political development, with nearly all deputies
making reference to it in their speeches. The MPs called on
the government to fulfill its pledge for greater democracy
and political freedom. Controversial MP Abdul Rahim Malhas
(East Banker, Amman - 3rd District),however, slammed the
government's political development plan as "a practical lie
directly translated from a U.S. program on political
participation in return for assistance to Middle East
countries launched by U.S. State Department official
Elizabeth Cheney."


11. (U) Economic issues also dominated the deliberations as
MPs urged the government to tackle aggressively the problems
of poverty and high unemployment. Several MPs warned the
government not to raise prices of subsidized commodities or
increase taxes. Emad Maayah (Christian East Banker, Madaba -
1st District),for example, cautioned that the government
must not "touch the pocket" of Jordanians as "the fury of the
IMF is better than the fury of God Almighty or the citizen."
Other MPs spoke out against government plans to privatize
state industries.

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A HEATED EXCHANGE
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12. (U) The third day of debate was interrupted December 22
when MP Abdul Munem Abu Zant (West Banker, Amman - 2nd
District) and MP Rawabdeh exchanged insults and accusations
over the 1999 expulsion of four Hamas leaders from Jordan.
Abu Zant charged that the government's expulsion decision,
taken when Rawabdeh was Prime Minister, was
"unconstitutional." Rawabdeh angrily replied that, "It was
part of the commitment to my national duty to protect the
country's security and I have never tried to avoid carrying
out my national duty or apologize for it." The angry verbal
sparring between the two MPs lasted for several minutes until
other legislators calmed the men down and restored order to
the Lower House floor.

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FAYEZ RESPONDS
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13. (U) At the end of the deliberations, Fayez gave a
45-minute address to the Parliament, focusing on his
commitment to battle unemployment, alleviate poverty, and
fight corruption. The government's economic action plan,
according to Fayez, aimed at achieving a genuine economic
growth rate of 6% for the years 2004-2006 and an inflation
rate of 1.8% by the end of 2006. The government's
Anti-Corruption Committee will be reformed and strengthened
to scrutinize government operations, while an empowered Audit
Bureau will help safeguard both investor and public funds.
Fayez said he would also concentrate on improving education,
health care and other social and economic programs.

14. (U) Fayez further promised to push ahead with political
development, adding "May God forgive the brother who
suggested that we are about to embark on political
development, transparency and public participation (as)
answers to an American request." Outside of domestic issues,
Fayez pledged "categorical support" for the Palestinian and
Iraqi people, but reiterated the government's policy against
the settlement of new refugees, either from Iraq or the West
Bank/Gaza, on Jordanian soil.

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COMMENT
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15. (C) While Fayez easily secured Parliament's vote of
confidence and enjoys broad popularity, he will be hard
pressed to satisfy the many demands put forward by MPs.
Fayez expressed frustration to the Ambassador, for example,
that some in Parliament apparently expected political
development to happen "overnight." Fayez may also come under
increasing pressure to provide the details of how he plans to
implement his somewhat vague promises of reforming the
political system and strengthening the economy.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page.
GNEHM