PM DISCUSSES ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAW'S PROSPECTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 001163 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2017 TAGS: EFIN PTER KTFN GOV JO SUBJECT: PM DISCUSSES ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAW'S PROSPECTS WITH AMBASSADOR Classified By: Ambassador David Hale, Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit told Ambassador March 13 that while the draft Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law currently before Parliament is a top legislative priority, its passage during this parliamentary session is unlikely due to imminent adjournment. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The PM indicated to the Ambassador that he had met with the KING earlier in the day, and they had agreed to make the AML law one of nine priority bills for the remainder of this session of Parliament. However, given that there are only a few weeks left in this session, the PM was not optimistic that the law would pass. In his view, MPs are likely to adopt stalling tactics on all legislative proposals in order to try to force KING Abdullah to call an emergency parliamentary session following this session's adjournment. An extra session would prolong MP's access to the perks of office such as government cars which would be useful for campaigning in upcoming elections. ¶3. (C) The PM said he preferred to convene an emergency two week session immediately after the close of this session, and place the draft AML law on the agenda. He explained that during an emergency session, MPs are constrained to act only on the prescribed agenda. NOTE: The AML law was on the agenda during the August/September 2006 extraordinary session, but Parliament took no action on it. END NOTE. In the absence of an extraordinary session, the next opportunity for Parliament to act will come in December 2007, the anticipated start of the next ordinary session. The KING has indicated to the Ambassador a disinclination, at least for now, to call an emergency session. ¶4. (C) Even in the absence of an AML law, the PM noted that the Central Bank has implemented many of the regulations necessary to bring Jordan into compliance with international standards. The Ambassador highlighted the anomaly of Jordan serving as President of the Middle East North Africa Financial Action Task Force, a regional body dedicated to the fight against money laundering and terrorist finance, without an AML law. Asked whether the GoJ would consider employing its power to promulgate the AML law as a so-called temporary law while Parliament was out of session, the PM seemed unenthusiastic. NOTE: The Jordanian constitution provides for "temporary laws" in emergency situations. Recent governments have stretched the concept of "emergencies" to the breaking point, but have often come under considerable criticism when they have done so. END NOTE. Hale