SOME VIEWS ON THE NEW CABINET

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 009822

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV JO
SUBJECT: SOME VIEWS ON THE NEW CABINET

REF: A. AMMAN 9476

B. AMMAN 8823

Classified By: CDA DANIEL RUBINSTEIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (b and d)


1. (C) Summary. Jordan's new government, sworn in November
27 under Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit, won a vote of
confidence in the Chamber of Deputies by a wide margin
December 20 (septel). But despite the government's strong
start with parliament, some in Amman's reformist and activist
communities have quite modest expectations for the Kingdom's
third PM in eight months. If Bakhit plans to move ahead on
reforms as he claims, one of his early tasks will be to
reverse the cynicism that is widespread among reform
advocates in parts of Jordan's political and media classes.
If convinced, they could prove to be useful allies. End
Summary.


2. (C) Some of our pro-reform contacts express hope that
Bakhit, with his broad military, diplomatic, and government
experience, will be able to advance reform, notably on the
political front. However, many do not expect him to succeed.
Former MP Hamadeh Fara'neh, a Palestinian-Jordanian who is a
prominent political columnist, told poloff that he hosted
Bakhit and chiefs of Jordan's leading socialist and
nationalist parties in early December in his home for dinner.
(Note: None of these parties have representation in
parliament.) Bakhit impressed Fara'neh with his promises at
the gathering to push for legislation to democratize the
electoral system, strengthen political parties, and weaken
the professional associations. However, Fara'neh went on to
observe that in his view, every Jordanian government since
1989 has "broken promises" on electoral reform, implying
another disappointment would not surprise him. Bakhit's
government "needs to do the opposite to stay credible."


3. (C) Human rights activists shared similar views with Post.
Jamal Rifa'i, head of the Jordanian Society for Human
Rights, told poloff that Bakhit is an "honest, simple, and
fair" man, but called his team unimpressive. Noting that
most of the cabinet are former ministers, he said "we were
expecting a new generation and new blood, but unfortunately
this did not happen." Nadia Bushnaq, Director of the Family
Guidance and Awareness Center and a member of the National
Agenda commission (ref B),lamented the presence in Bakhit's
cabinet of only one woman, down from four in the last
government. She also complained that Bakhit "decided to
bring in all the old faces, and this does not bode well for
reform. It's the same old stuff." COMMENT: Given how
ministers are selected, this criticism of Bakhit is unfair
and inaccurate. END COMMENT. Referring to her service on
the National Agenda commission, she said, "we've been working
day and night for eight months on reform; people are thirsty
and dying for reform. But with the same old faces, how can
this be achieved?"


4. (C) Oraib Rantawi, the Palestinian-Jordanian head of Al
Quds Political Research Center and daily columnist for the
Arabic daily Al Dustour who has often been critical of recent
cabinets, told poloff that Bakhit is the strongest PM of King
Abdullah's reign, and that his program is "well balanced
between security and political development." Sounding more
upbeat than others, Rantawi said that people are confident in
the new government and have high expectations for it to
succeed. Because of that confidence, a failure of the
government to achieve its goals would be "particularly
devastating."


5. (C) Fathallah Omrani, president of Jordan's textile
workers union, was very blunt. "The new cabinet is corrupt.
Where are Muasher and Awadallah?" he asked poloff
rhetorically, referring to former cabinet members and trusted
advisors to the King, Marwan Muasher and Bassam Awadallah.
When poloff reminded Omrani that parliament forced the ouster
of Awadallah on then PM-Badran, Omrani replied with another
question: "Who made parliament?" His implication was that
the current electoral system lacks legitimacy.


6. (C) For their part, MPs continue to be generally satisfied
with the cabinet (ref A). MP Imad Maa'ya expressed a typical
view to poloff, stressing that Jordan needed a PM like Bakhit
who could focus on security issues.


7. (C) COMMENT. In conversations with post before the change
in government, former DPM Muasher, who also chaired the
National Agenda commission, has noted the skepticism among
many political activists and journalists who, Muasher argued,
should be supporters of the King's reform agenda (ref A).
Our recent conversations confirm that the skepticism is still
there among some segments of civil society. We think Bakhit
could well overcome it if he is seen as working to push
electoral reform through parliament.
RUBINSTEIN