GOJ UNVEILS DRAFT POLITICAL PARTIES LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002427

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KISL KMPI JO
SUBJECT: GOJ UNVEILS DRAFT POLITICAL PARTIES LAW

REF: A. AMMAN 2378

B. AMMAN 2043

Classified By: CDA Christopher Henzel for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The Minister of Political Development presented on
March 21 a draft law on political parties. The law would
provide public funds to parties with more than 1,000 members.
Additional funds would be made available to parties if women
or young adults exceed 20 percent of their total membership.
The draft law is open to public comments and will likely go
through a lengthy process of revision. It was announced
after an ABC News interview with King Abdullah in which he
repeated his call for three or four strong, organized
political parties in Jordan. While party leaders have long
requested public funding, they insist that the GOJ needs to
allow free political expression if parties are to develop and
thrive. End Summary.

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A MUCH ANTICIPATED LAW
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2. (U) Following more than a year of speculation (ref B),
Minister of Political Development Munther al-Shara unveiled
during a March 21 press conference a draft law that would
amend current legislation (adopted in 1992) regulating
political parties. Shara commented that the law was based on
dialogue with many of Jordan's political parties and civil
society institutions, in addition to women's and youth
organizations. Representatives from 27 parties attended the
event and were given copies of the draft legislation for
their review, along with related financial regulations. A
few parties, including the Communist Workers' Party and the
Islamic Centrist party, boycotted the press conference,
complaining that they had not been adequately consulted on
the proposed legislation and that the government should first
focus its efforts on a new electoral law.


3. (U) Among its provisions, the law stipulates that parties
must have at least 200 members (up from the current baseline
of 50) to be recognized by the government and cannot
discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, or
religion. New parties applying for government recognition
must receive an answer from the Minister of Political
Development within 60 days and can appeal a negative decision
in court. The law prohibits the use of places of worship,
union headquarters, charities or clubs for the benefit of any
political party. Parties may also not "interfere" in the
affairs of other states or act in a way that "harms" Jordan
or its relations with other countries.


4. (U) With respect to funding, the draft law and
accompanying financial regulations constitute a major change
in that they would provide JD 16,000 (about USD 22,400) in
public money each year to parties with more than 1,000
registered members, provided that women and young adults
(ages 18-27) form at least 10 percent of their membership and
elected committees. Parties would be eligible for an
additional 1,000 dinars (USD 1,400) annually if the
percentage of women or young adult members exceeds 20
percent; another 1,000 dinars would go to parties if women
and young adults comprise 20 percent or more of their elected
committees. In addition, parties participating in
parliamentary elections would be entitled to a half dinar for
each vote garnered by one of their candidates (not to exceed
50,000 dinars/USD 70,000). Private funding would be
restricted to donations from Jordanian citizens with an
individual contribution limit of 10,000 dinars (USD 14,000).
Recognized parties would be tax-exempt, but subject to
financial review by the government Audit Bureau.


5. (SBU) Shara cautioned that the law was a first draft and
he invited feedback and proposals for revisions before it is
put in final form. He did not provide any date for its
submission to either the cabinet or parliament for approval,
only noting that the final version of the law would have to
be in "harmony" with recommendations made by the royal
commission charged with developing a "national agenda" (ref
A). (NOTE: Given that the national agenda commission will
complete its work no earlier than September, the draft law
may not be finalized until 2006. END NOTE.)

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A PARTY-FRIENDLY KING?
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6. (U) The unveiling of the draft law comes less than a week
after an interview of King Abdullah by Peter Jennings of ABC
News that touched upon political parties. During the March
15 broadcast, the King reiterated his view that while there
are over 30 parties currently on the books in Jordan, none of
them have any real political platform. "I don't want
parliament (members) being elected because they belong to
this tribe or this village or this particular constituency.
I want them to be elected on a party political platform."
The King said that he wanted to "strengthen" parties and that
he would like to see the current number of parties
consolidated into "three of four" that would take stands on
issues such as the economy, social services, health and
education.

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ICY REACTION
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7. (U) Initial reaction to the draft law by political
parties has been negative. Hamzah Mansour, Secretary General
of the Islamic Action Front (IAF),told the press that while
his party still needs time to "research" the text, he
believed that the prohibition against interference in foreign
relations was a clear violation of freedom of expression and
the Jordanian constitution. A spokesperson for the "Higher
Coordinating Committee" of opposition political parties
(dominated by the IAF) said that the draft legislation was
undemocratic and represented a government attempt to control
the internal affairs of parties. The Secretary General of
the centrist National Constitutional Party remarked publicly
that the draft "does not deserve any response," while the
head of the leftist Hashd Party said the proposed law would
limit, rather than encourage, the development of parties,
though he welcomed provisions exempting parties from taxes
and banning them from using houses of worship.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) The provision of public funding for political parties
in the draft law should be welcomed by party leaders who have
long requested such a move. However, no existing party other
than the IAF currently meets the funding threshold of 1,000
registered members. Preliminary reaction confirms that other
provisions of the law will be problematic. The IAF in
particular may strongly object to the ban on sectarianism and
the use of mosques and professional association facilities
for political party benefit. The prohibition against
"harming" Jordan or interfering in other states' affairs will
be seen as a promise of government intervention against any
party that crosses redlines on leading issues of Jordanian
politics, such as GOJ relations with the U.S. and Israel, or
the role of the King and his inner circle.


9. (C) Party leaders and reform activists have often told
emboffs that political parties will not develop or thrive
until the government truly allows freedom of expression and
loosens restrictions on public gatherings. They further
insist that the security services must end harassment of
those who speak out against government policies if real party
politics is to develop here. Leaders of the Islamic Centrist
Party, for example, recently noted to poloff that it is very
difficult for them to recruit young members when political
party activity is banned on university campuses and
university students admitted through the "royal quota"
(estimated at up to 30 percent of the student population) are
asked to refrain from joining any party.
HENZEL