GOJ SUBMITS NEW MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS LAW TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002119

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KWMN JO
SUBJECT: GOJ SUBMITS NEW MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS LAW TO
PARLIAMENT

REF: A. AMMAN 02016

B. AMMAN 01430

Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) The GOJ submitted a new municipal elections law to
parliament on March 20, accompanied by a request that it be
given priority status. The draft law provides for the direct
election of all mayors and municipal council members in
Jordan, except for the capital of Amman. The bill also sets
a 20% quota for women in municipal councils, and allows for
appointed city managers with the power to prepare budgets and
monitor the expenditure of funds. As the current session of
parliament will end April 1, parliamentary debate on the
municipal elections bill will likely have to wait until MPs
reconvene for an "extraordinary session." End Summary.

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MUNICIPAL ELECTORAL REFORM MOVES FORWARD
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2. (SBU) After months of internal wrangling within the GOJ
(ref B),the Prime Ministry submitted a draft municipal
elections law to parliament on March 20, accompanied by a
request that the law be given priority status for quick
action. As widely predicted, the legislation mandates the
direct election of all mayors and municipal council members
in Jordan's 99 municipalities, in contrast to the current
system whereby all mayors and half of council members are
appointed by the GOJ. The bill also lowers the voting age
for municipal elections from 19 to 18. The mayor of the
Greater Amman Municipality will continue to be appointed by
the GOJ, as will half the members of Amman's city council.
NOTE: Prior to 2003, all mayors and municipal council
members in Jordan - except for Amman - were directly elected.
END NOTE. The law further divides municipalities into four
different categories, based primarily on population.
Candidates for mayor in larger cities (i.e., cities in
categories one and two) will need a university degree to run
for office. Mayoral candidates for towns in the third
category are required to have a secondary school certificate,
while those running for mayor in the smallest municipalities
- the fourth category - will need only to be able to read and
write. NOTE: Currently, almost all of the mayors in Jordan,
appointed by the government, are university graduates. END
NOTE.


3. (U) The draft law further provides that 20% of seats in
each council be set aside for women. If there are not enough
female candidates to fill these seats, the needed number of
women will be appointed by the government. The Minister of
Municipalities, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has
the discretion to appoint an additional two members to each
municipal council.


4. (U) Under the bill, the Prime Minister, upon the
recommendation of the Minister of Municipalities, would be
given authority to appoint a city manager ("municipality
director") for any town in Jordan, not including the capital.
These managers would be charged with implementing city
council decisions, preparing budgets, supervising municipal
properties, and monitoring the spending of city funds. NOTE:
Municipal funds in Jordan are allocated by the GOJ; cities
have no independent taxation authority. END NOTE. The bill
is silent on the date of the next municipal elections,
stating only that mayors and council members will serve a
four-year term. NOTE: The term for current mayors and
councils will end in 2007. END NOTE.

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INITIAL REACTIONS
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5. (C) Influential MP Abdul Karim Al-Dughmi (East Banker,
Mafraq) told poloff March 21 that he would actively oppose
giving the municipal elections bill priority status. "If the
government is so anxious to get this law passed, they should
not have sat on it for so long," he quipped. Dughmi added
that the GOJ did not "fully understand" that passage of the
law would result in Islamist candidates taking control of
many Jordanian cities. At a lunch poloff attended on March
21, MP Suleiman Obeidat (East Banker, Irbid) said he had "no
objections" to the draft law, but was against placing it at
the top of parliament's agenda. MP Hatem Sarayreh (East
Banker, Kerak) chided the GOJ for not consulting with
parliament on the bill, and stated he would need to examine
the law more closely as the appointment of city mangers was
"troubling" to him.


6. (C) In a March 22 conversation with Ambassador, former PM
and current Senator Fayez Al-Tarawneh expressed concern that
the Islamic Action Front (IAF),the political wing of the
Muslim Brotherhood, would win control of municipal
governments in Jordan's largest cities - where support for
the IAF is concentrated - under the proposed law. He
confided that he and other legislators were considering
amendments to the bill that would preserve the appointment of
mayors and half of council members in Zarqa and Irbid -- the
two most populous cities after Amman.


7. (C) During a March 20 visit to the town of Umm Qays in
northern Jordan, poloff asked the mayor and council members
whether they supported the direct election of municipal
leaders. All of them responded affirmatively, including the
four of the eight members appointed by the government.
"There should be no difference between us," said one
appointed member, "so let's have everyone elected." NOTE:
Support for the IAF in Umm Qays, whose residents are almost
entirely East Bankers, is low. END NOTE.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) Given the sentiments of Dughmi and other MPs, it is
unlikely that parliament will debate municipal electoral
reform before the end of its current session on April 1.
While the next regular session of parliament will not, under
the constitution, begin until October 1 at the earliest,
contacts predict that the King will call an "extraordinary"
session later this spring.
HALE