FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF PARLIAMENT'S FINANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000612 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2016 TAGS: PGOV EFIN JO SUBJECT: FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF PARLIAMENT'S FINANCE COMMITTEE DELAYS BUDGET REF: A. AMMAN 00239 ¶B. AMMAN 00151 ¶C. 05 AMMAN 09823 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A dispute over the membership of a key committee brought the Chamber of Deputies' business to a crawl for over two weeks. The controversy froze all committee work and significantly delayed review of the government's annual budget. END SUMMARY. -------------- TIE VOTE SPARKS CONTROVERSY -------------- ¶2. (SBU) After giving PM Bakhit's government a strong vote of confidence in December and electing a Speaker (ref C),the Chamber of Deputies turned its attention to the formation of its 14 permanent committees, each with 11 MPs as members. By tradition, blocs of MPs meet in informal horse-trading sessions to decide who will head each committee before committee members vote for chairmen. Contacts in parliament report that the principal blocs once again reached such an agreement this session, which should have made internal committee leadership elections little more than a formality. ¶3. (SBU) While elections for the heads of 11 of the 14 committees went according to plan, discipline among bloc members apparently broke down in the voting for the chairman of the Financial Committee, the Public Freedoms Committee, and the Education and Youth Committee. In each of these committees, the vote was a tie between two competing candidates. To break these deadlocks, the chairmen were then chosen by lot according to Chamber of Deputies bylaws. ¶4. (C) In the case of the influential Finance Committee - which reviews and issues a recommendation on the government's annual budget - former chairman Hashem Dabbas (East Banker, Balqa) and independent Islamist Abdullah Akaileh (East Banker, Tafileh) each received four votes in the internal committee election, while Khalil Atiyyah (West Banker, Amman) received three votes. Luck favored Akaileh in the ensuing draw, but seven of the 11 members resigned from the committee a few hours later in protest of Akaileh's selection. NOTE: It is likely the General Intelligence Directorate, which loathes Akaileh for his outspoken criticism of successive governments, played a role in the MPs' decision to resign. END NOTE. The Islamic Action Front (IAF),which had backed Akaileh, sharply criticized the MPs who resigned, calling them "immature" and "disrespectful" of parliamentary rules. ¶5. (C) Dabbas told POLOFF on January 5 that he had been "taken by surprise" by the Finance Committee election since he understood that his Democratic Alliance bloc had reached consensus with other blocs to secure a majority of votes for him. Dabbas defended the committee members' resignations, saying such a move was "their right." He added that if a revote was taken with Atiyyah out of the picture, he would "certainly win" over Akaileh. -------------- THE SQUABBLING INTENSIFIES -------------- ¶6. (C) The standoff over the Financial Committee brought business in parliament to a crawl. As no committee can officially conduct business (per internal bylaws) until the full Chamber of Deputies ratifies committee election results, all committee work was, at least in theory, frozen. NOTE: That the lower house was able to ratify the U.S.-Jordan Article 98 agreement (ref B) in the midst of this row is testament to how strongly the GOJ pushed this agreement. END NOTE. To get things moving after a 10-day impasse, Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali entered the fray on January 3, calling an immediate meeting of the Chamber's leadership bureau (which among its duties resolves procedural and rules issues) to address the matter. The bureau announced that candidates for committee chair positions need at least six votes out of the committee's 11 members to win, and accordingly called for a revote for the Finance Committee chairmanship after the Eid holidays. The seven protesting committee members promptly withdrew their resignations. ¶7. (U) Upset by the bureau's decision, the IAF quickly pointed out that the chairmen of two other committees had been chosen by a draw without any ensuing controversy. Faced with this argument, Majali called for a revote in all three committees. On January 9, 30 MPs, including the 17 IAF members, signed a letter urging the Chamber of Deputies to cancel the scheduled new elections in the committees in question. The letter stated that the chairmen were elected "according to due process" and argued that the Chamber of Deputies should be deliberating serious issues, including the government's 2006 budget, instead of wasting time on "trivial matters." IAF MP Ali Abuld Sukkar (West Banker, Zarqa), accused those behind the revote of "putting personal agendas ahead of national interests." ¶8. (C) New elections for the three committees were held January 15. After MP Dabbas was elected chairman of the Finance Committee, MP Akaileh immediately submitted to Speaker Majali his resignation from the committee. In a similar move, MP Hatem Sarayreh (East Banker, Kerak),who had been chosen by draw to head the Education and Youth Committee, withdrew his candidacy for committee chair in protest over the revote. Sarayreh told POLOFF on January 19 that he and MP Raed Qaqish (Christian East Banker, Balqa) had been thinking of filing a lawsuit to contest the new elections, though he was now leaning against this as it "might make matters worse." Qaqish complained to press that, "If we cannot agree on elections for (Chamber of Deputies) committees, how do you expect parliament to decide on more significant matters, like important laws?" NOTE: Sarayreh and Qaqish are well outside the IAF fold. END NOTE. The full Chamber of Deputies formally endorsed the election results for all 14 committees on January 18. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) The public bickering amongst MPs over internal committees has further eroded the public image of parliament. Several contacts expressed exasperation at the recent events in the Chamber of Deputies. This dispute has also delayed action on the government's 2006 budget. Although parliament inaugurated its current session on December 1, the Finance Committee under Dabbas has only recently begun its review of the budget. Delayed consideration of the budget could negatively impact timely action on other legislative items, including new laws the government is expected to introduce to strengthen security and help implement political reform (ref A). Hale