GOJ CLOSES RANKS AGAINST PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000709

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ELAB KMPI JO
SUBJECT: GOJ CLOSES RANKS AGAINST PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

REF: AMMAN 571

Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) On January 26 police broke up an unlicensed rally at
the headquarters of Jordan's professional associations,
allegedly beating Islamic Action Front members of parliament.
The associations continue to defy the Interior Minister's
order that they end their political activities. The
government's confrontation with the associations has made it
appear intolerant and placed the opposition in the
advantageous position of defending free speech. The King's
initiative to enhance grassroots democracy (septel) may
partly protect the government against criticism of being
anti-democratic, but those proposals look vague and remote
next to the now daily fare of verbal clashes and more with
the associations. End Summary.

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CONFLICT ESCALATES AS GOJ RALLIES ROUND HABASHNEH
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2. (U) The stand-off between the GOJ and the professional
associations heated up this week after the government refused
to back away from Interior Minister Habashneh's order that
the associations cease all political activity. The
associations appealed publicly to the King for intervention
on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, to no avail. Meanwhile, the
Professional Associations Council (PAC) vowed that it would
take legal action in response to the MOI's measures (reftel),
and the associations called on members to attend a "Jordanian
Unions Festival" to support their position. In response, the
Interior Ministry publicly warned that the event would
violate the public gatherings law, which requires prior
government approval.


3. (U) The PAC remained defiant. It refused to sign a memo
presented by the governor of Amman on January 24 pledging to
desist from all political activity. On January 25,
opposition parties held a forum to discuss the confrontation.
Dr. Said Theyab, spokesman for the parties, said the crisis
stemmed from the "lack of public freedom" in Jordan.
Outspoken president of the Engineers' Association Wa'el
al-Saqqa also held a press conference that day, denying
charges that the associations' involvement in political
issues has been to the detriment of their members'
professional needs. He claimed that 99 percent of the
associations' work was "professional."


4. (U) Meanwhile, the government closed ranks. After
postponing a meeting between Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez
and PAC leaders until January 26, GOJ spokesperson Asma
Khader announced that Fayez would not meet with them at all
because of their disregard for recent government warnings to
abide by the law . She emphasized that the entire government
backed Habashneh's actions, which sought to enforce the rule
of law -- in an effort to dispel rumors that Habashneh was
acting on behalf of the security services, not the
government. "The government respects people's right to
freely express their opinion within the boundaries of laws
that regulate such freedoms," Khader said. "Nobody is above
the law." The Cabinet also decided to instruct the Audit
Bureau to review the associations' accounts.

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BANNED RALLY TURNS VIOLENT
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5. (SBU) In response to the associations' planned (but
banned) rally on the evening of January 26, GOJ security
forces physically prevented approximately 50 association
members from entering the groups' headquarters complex,
according to post police contacts. The police tell us they
did not arrest anyone, but that some association members
claimed to be injured and were hospitalized. An al-Jazirah
correspondent at the scene reported that security officers
clashed with association members "away from the cameras," and
the station broadcast images of hospitalized individuals
after the confrontations. According to local press reports,
police beat several Islamic Action Front (IAF) members of
parliament. These MPs, who also are prominent members of
their respective associations include Ali Abu al-Sukkar,
Azzam al-Huneidi, and Zuheir Abu al-Ragheb.


6. (SBU) Al-Jazirah quoted Badi al-Rafayi'ah, head of the
PAC's banned anti-normalization committee (and one of those
hospitalized) as saying: "It is regrettable that we as union
members go to our home at the union complex in (the Amman
neighborhood of) al-Shmeisani and are confronted in this
manner at a time when there are many corrupt people and all
the forces in the country are being employed to help (IIG PM)
Iyad Allawi in his election campaign." Most local papers
reported the incident on their front pages, with the
exception of semi-governmental Arabic daily al-'Rai, which
didn't mention it at all.

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SOME CRITICIZE GOJ'S HEAVY-HANDED TACTICS
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7. (U) Meanwhile, al-Ra'i continued to run commentaries
supporting the GOJ's position. Senator Falah al-Tawil called
on the government to maintain its "firm stand" against the
professional associations, and Abdul Fattah Touqan criticized
the "political deceit" of the associations. The
English-language Jordan Times took the middle ground, calling
on the associations' members to weigh in and ultimately to
allow the judicial system to make the call. Doing otherwise
risked the crisis "boiling over," the paper warned.


8. (C) Others are (privately) criticizing the GOJ's
heavy-handed tactics in dealing with the associations. MP
and First Deputy Speaker Mamdouh Abbadi, who served as head
of the PAC in the late 1980s, termed the government approach
a "mistake," commenting to emboffs that the associations have
always been engaged in political activity. He questioned the
timing of the crackdown, and criticized cabinet "technocrats"
as out of touch with popular opinion and politically inept.


9. (U) Back in parliament, pro-government MPs are gathering
signatures for a petition calling for an unspecified
"restructuring" of the professional associations. IAF
deputies announced their intention to question Habashneh on
the parliament floor regarding the beating of union members
at the banned rally. However, despite all the brave
rhetoric, parliament failed to convene a quorum on January
26, the day during which it was supposed to address the
crisis.

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COMMENT
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10. (C) The professional associations' open defiance is not
surprising, given their history of anti-Israeli and
anti-American activism. We expect the GOJ to hold fast to
continue to back Habashneh's hard-line, setting the stage for
further potentially violent confrontations. The King's
national address supporting political development and
decentralization (reported septel) may stave off criticism
that the GOJ's crackdown on the associations is strangling
political liberalization in its cradle. But by openly
confronting the associations in this manner, the GOJ has
locked itself into a confrontation that puts its adversaries
on the high ground as defenders of political freedom and
opponents of U.S. and Israeli policies.


11. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
HALE