BADRAN GOVERNMENT WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

UNCLAS AMMAN 005848

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL JO
SUBJECT: BADRAN GOVERNMENT WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

REF: A. AMMAN 5624

B. AMMAN 5626


1. (C) A week of heated debate in the lower house of
Parliament in response to PM Badran's opening policy
statement resulted in a vote of confidence for the Badran
government on July 21. With 66 votes in favor, 39 against,
and 6 absentions, the debate will now turn to more than 30
agenda items slated for discussion during the remaining week
of the extraordinary session of parliament.


2. (C) Members of Parliament took turns addressing Badran's
policy statement of July 14, which highlighted nearly a dozen
major priorities for his government, some more concrete than
others. Chief among them is improving citizens' living
standards and fighting poverty and unemployment. He also
said his government must "pay full attention" to education
and training systems to ensure graduates meet the demands of
the job market. A third priority is to develop and
strengthen the governorates and districts in accordance with
recommendations of government's decentralization plans.
Fourth, the government must work to strengthen national unity
by "consolidating and strengthening the domestic front" in
the face of regional challenges. Badran also committed the
government to enriching political and intellectual pluralism
by promoting freedoms "without conditions other than
responsibility, without rules other than abidance by the
national interest, and without ceilings other than the law
and the constitution." Badran vowed to combat all forms of
corruption. A seventh agenda item involves strengthening
partnership between the various sectors of society,
particularly the government and civil society. Noting the
important contributions of the professional associations, he
said that the government had circulated a memo to all
ministries and departments encouraging them to include
professional association members on committees and
commissions. Eight, the government must support the armed
forces and security services. Ninth, Badran committed his
government to strengthening and modernizing the judiciary.
Tenth, Jordan must reduce dependence on foreign funding by
developing local revenues, rationalizing public expenditure
and restructuring the general budget to make it "more
flexible, responsive to economic changes, and more capable of
facing potential foreign shock." Finally, Badran highlighted
the importance of attracting foreign investment to Jordan.


3. (C) Deputies did not hold back their criticism of the
PM's statement. The government's reform agenda, its decision
to increase fuel prices, and corruption were central to the
deputies' complaints as they took the floor. several
deputies criticized the government's reform plans, describing
them as too slow and inefficient. "Reform has gone backward
in the very era of reform," MP Abdul Rahim Malhas (Amman-3rd
District) declared on July 17, adding that the government's
reform agenda "is purely media rhetoric to appease those who
want, for their own interests, changes in our situation."
Malhas declared his intention during his speech to withhold
his vote of confidence for the new cabinet.


4. (U) Speaking on behalf of the Islamic Action Front bloc,
MP Abdul Majid Khawaldeh (Mafraq) questioned the government's
commitment to political reform. He complained that
university students are still not allowed to elect freely the
officers of their unions. He also called on the government
to repeal the controversial law limiting the political
activities of the professional associations. In contrast,
two other IAF deputies commended the government's economic
austerity measures, but insisted they be implemented fully.
Another MP from Mafraq, Fayez Shdeifat, called for the
removal of the provision in the Constitution which permits
the dissolution of parliament, as well as a limit to the
government's power to issue temporary laws.


5. (C) Comment: The vote is relief for Badran and his
ministers. However, this government is not out of the woods
yet. It can expect more tough debates in parliament and
increased pressure to make good on its wide-ranging promises.
With the vote out of the way, the parliament can now begin
deliberating on its more than 30 agenda items (refs),but it
is unlikely it will complete its work before the
extraordinary session ends. Normally, such sessions last
approximately four weeks, but the King ultimately decides
when it will conclude. Charge has been told the session will
wrap up on July 28, thus leaving any unfinished agenda items
for the regular session, unlikely to begin before
November.

Please visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at
http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site through
the Department of State's SIPRNET home page.
HALE