JORDANIAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: A PRIMER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002985 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2017 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KWMN JO SUBJECT: JORDANIAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: A PRIMER REF: A. AMMAN 1936 ¶B. AMMAN 2301 ¶C. AMMAN 170306 AMMAN 5945 ¶D. AMMAN 1410 ¶E. AMMAN 528 ¶F. AMMAN 1031 ¶G. AMMAN 2255 AMMAN 00002985 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA Daniel Rubinstein, Reasons 1.4 (B) & (D) Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan is gearing up for municipal elections on July 31, with potential candidates reaching out to their constituencies as they and their backers engage in pre-electoral alliances and maneuvering. While the campaigns are hard-fought local events, the competition between the Islamic Action Front (IAF - the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood) and the government is the pivotal issue. Political observers expect these elections will be an important barometer of the likely success of the IAF in national parliamentary elections expected to be held in the fall. As such, both the Islamist camp and the government are playing bare-knuckled politics now and, after the elections, will hyper-analyze and spin the results in anticipation of the next contest, amping up the already high political rhetoric (ref A). ¶2. (SBU) This cable serves as a primer for those interested in the upcoming municipal elections and Post's intended coverage. Subsequent cables will focus on the dynamics in places such as Zarqa and Rusaifeh (hotbeds of Islamist activity),the electoral battles waged between the tribes and Islamists in Irbid, Karak and Madaba, and the seminal role of women in light of their new 20 per cent quota (refs B and C). END SUMMARY. Municipal Reform: Elections vs. Appointments -------------- ¶3. (U) Jordan's last municipal elections were held in 2003, at which time mayors were appointed by the central government (after having been elected in 1995 and 1999) while municipal councils were half-elected and half-appointed. Following a Palace-led effort to further open the political system (ref D),Parliament endorsed the municipal government reform law in March 2007 (ref E) by which, for the first since the 1930's, voters will elect both their mayors and all municipal council members. Amman is an exception; the mayor and half the council will remain appointed, which was the situation country-wide in the 2003 municipal elections. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone and Petra Regional Authorities do not fall under the municipalities law and will continue to have appointed commissioners (ref F). ¶4. (SBU) The municipal reform law also reserves at least 20 per cent of council seats for women. Post has focused on strengthening female candidates though USAID partners IRI, NDI and Freedom House (ref B). Council Organization and Function -------------- ¶5. (C) Municipal councils range in size from seven members in smaller areas to 15-30 members in the larger municipalities (see ref B - Amman's council will increase to 47 seats). Councils are generally responsible for municipal planning, building permits, water sanitation, trash collection, regulating public markets and other places, fire and flood protection, and parks and recreation. The Mayor sets the council agenda, presides over its sessions, signs contracts on behalf of the council and heads the executive arm of the municipality. NOTE: Municipal employees, including mayors themselves, have told poloffs that the mayor traditionally wielded substantial power over the councils, a dynamic that may change somewhat with elected mayors and fully elected councils. END NOTE. Meanwhile, each municipality has a municipal director, a long-standing position which serves alongside the mayor. The director is appointed by the GOJ and prepares the draft council agenda, participates in council discussion without the right to vote, and acts as director of the municipality's executive body (ref E). NOTE: Despite concern in some circles that the director's role would be expanded to check the mayor's power, his/her responsibilities remained largely the same under the current municipal law. END NOTE. ¶6. (SBU) Municipal revenue sources include taxes and fees levied and collected by the municipality, such as building permits, business licenses, property transfer taxes, and public-private partnerships. In addition, the central AMMAN 00002985 002.2 OF 003 government collects and disperses to municipalities a six per cent tax on petroleum derivatives, 40 per cent of vehicle registration fees, and some traffic and health fines. Voting Procedures -------------- ¶7. (U) For each of Jordan's 93 municipalities, the Minister of Municipality Affairs (MoMA) will appoint an Election Chairman, who will in turn appoint a 4-person committee to oversee each polling center (of which there will be more than 1,900 nationwide). These committees, candidates or their representatives, and police will be at the polling site while ballots are cast. When voting is completed, the committee will turn over ballots to a second committee for counting on site. ¶8. (U) Voters will cast two ballots during the elections. They will vote for mayor by writing the name of one candidate by hand on one card, and they will likewise vote for one member of the municipal council on a second card. If at least 50 per cent of registered voters in a particular municipality have not cast ballots when polls close, polls will open for ten additional hours on August 1, after which they will close regardless of the percentage of participation. NOTE: MoMA officials reported that in past elections only a handful of municipalities have had to reopen polls. END NOTE. Wild Cards -------------- ¶9. (SBU) There has been some discussion among the parties and pundits regarding the number of votes a voter can cast for the municipal council. The relevant legislation states that the voter will write the "names" on the ballot card, implying the possibility to vote for more than one candidate (in districts that have more than one council seat). However, in June, the Prime Ministry's Interpretation Bureau decreed that voters can only write the name of a single council candidate. This drew the ire of the IAF (the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood's political arm),which views this as an effort to limit IAF influence and the number of municipal council members from IAF ranks. Other observers contend that this will limit the competitiveness of women and independent candidates without strong tribal of family backing. These concerns derive from expectations that, given the opportunity to vote for only one name, the electorate will stick with their tribal/familial connections over any party affiliations. ¶10. (SBU) Except in the very largest municipalities, the size of the electorate and the number of candidates means that a few thousand votes can easily swing the mayoral results. In Madaba, for example, a knowledgeable political observer estimated that that the victor in the race for mayor would need only 10-12,000 votes out of the 40,000-person electorate there, and he saw tribal affiliations and alliances as critical to assembling the necessary votes. ¶11. (SBU) Two other factors make the outcome of this municipal election harder to predict. The municipal reform law lowered the voting age from 19 to 18. This, combined with Jordan's young population (74% of Jordanians are under 30),is expected to generate a high number of first-time voters whose affiliations are not clear. The impact of the military vote has also been discussed among observers. Unlike in parliamentary elections, members of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) are allowed by law to vote in municipal elections. In early 2007, the JAF issued a statement requesting all service members to identify their voting districts on their national identification card, effectively registering them to vote. IAF representatives seized on this as an indication the government would seek to manipulate election results through military voters. The government spokesman countered that the military has never been restricted from voting. Numbers of military voters and their impact remain to be seen, but the mil itary is widely considered one of the pillars of the Jordanian government (ref G). Election Day Coverage -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Jordan's Minister of Municipal Affairs, Nader Thuheirat, told Ambassador on July 3 that his ministry, which is responsible for conducting the municipal elections, welcomes visits by U.S. Embassy personnel to polling stations. The Minister provided a Ministry liaison for the Embassy teams to aid in access to polls and clarification of voting procedures, as required. AMMAN 00002985 003.2 OF 003 ¶13. (SBU) The Embassy will send two-person teams (one American and one FSN) to visit polls in several of Jordan's largest municipalities. Teams will focus on key mayoral races, such as those in the city of Salt, and cities in which the Islamic Action Front (IAF) is competing: Zarqa, Irbid, Rusaifeh, Karak, and Madaba. Emboffs will also visit polling sites in Amman and smaller villages adjacent to large urban centers. Each team will visit multiple polling locations during the day to witness ballot casting, and will remain at one poll site at closing time to observe the ballot-counting and -reporting procedures. Comment: Bellwether for Parliamentary Polls -------------- ¶14. (C) Regardless of the outcome, the 800-pound gorillas in this fight (the GoJ and the IAF) will begin furiously spinning the results immediately after the polls close. We can anticipate immediate accusations by the IAF that the government interfered in candidate selection and coalition-building for the sake of maximizing the non-IAF vote. Some conservative East Bankers, meanwhile, are likely to use even a marginal IAF success as justification to renew calls to delay national elections. END COMMENT. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Rubinstein