CAMPAIGN DIRTY TRICKS: VOTE BUYING, MUD SLINGING,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 004571

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2017
TAGS: JO PGOV KDEM
SUBJECT: CAMPAIGN DIRTY TRICKS: VOTE BUYING, MUD SLINGING,
AND PHYSICAL INTIMIDATION

REF: A. AMMAN 4294


B. AMMAN 4277

C. AMMAN 4559

D. AMMAN 4320

Classified By: Classified by Ambassador David Hale
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Campaigning for the November 20
parliamentary elections is in full swing, with candidate
tents springing up like mushrooms, posters and banners
blanketing the traffic circles, and numerous newspaper
editorials devoted to the big questions of representation,
benefits of participation, tribal ties vs. issue-based
voting, and the modalities with which the government will
make good on its commitment to run transparent elections open
to domestic monitors (REF A). In the midst of all this above
board campaign rhetoric and activity, dirty tricks - some of
which are seen as quite effective in campaigning - have
provided grist and color for the active rumor mill. Alleged
vote buying is the most publicly discussed form of electoral
fraud, attracting government and media attention. Candidates
insist that they aren't interested in buying votes, but
acknowledge that plenty of people are selling them.
Meanwhile, the blurry line between providing services and
buying votes is difficult for some candidates to manage and
gossip purveyors to understand. Mud slinging is seen as an
effective campaign tool, and we hear allegations of
everything from Israeli support to pernicious vote buying.
Some candidates even report being attacked by thugs hired by
their rivals. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The progress of Jordan's campaign season has, up to
the present point, been smooth. Under royal assurances that
the November 20 parliamentary polls will be free and fair,
candidates and voters who we talk to all express confidence
in the system. Note: In a poll released November 12 by the
Jordan Center for Strategic Studies, fifty-four percent of
respondents said that they expected the elections to be free
and fair. End note. The government has declared its
openness to allowing domestic election monitoring - subject
to certain constraints (REF A). Yet even in this context,
dirty tricks on the campaign trail have received much
attention. The practices of vote buying and transfers of
voting district registrations (to be reported septel) have
been at the top of the dirty tricks agenda, followed by good
old-fashioned mudslinging and inter-campaign violence. Now
that election season is well under way, a new round of
electoral shenanigans is manifesting itself, to the
consternation of voters and candidates alike.

Vote Buying
--------------


3. (U) Vote buying is a constant topic of discussion during
the current campaign season. A news item or editorial on the
subject appears almost daily in Jordan's major newspapers.
The Jordan Center for Strategic Studies poll cited above
showed that sixty-six percent of respondents said that vote
buying was occurring in their districts. PM Marouf al-Bakhit
and Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez have made numerous
pronouncements on the subject, reiterating that the practice
is illegal and that violators will be prosecuted to the full
extent of the law (REF B). Both have publicly encouraged the
media and civil society to investigate vigorously and expose
cases of vote buying in order to create a sense of shame
about the practice.


4. (C) Every candidate we talk to expresses disgust towards
anyone who would sell their vote. Most see the phenomenon as
a function of Jordan's economic woes (REF C),and wish that
voters would value the future of their country higher than
their short term economic well-being. Candidates seem to
recognize that their constituents are hungry for clean
candidates, and go to great lengths to deny their complicity
in any vote-buying scheme. Taghrid al-Breizat, a female
candidate in Madaba's second district, has a slogan printed
on her business cards: "Those who buy your vote today will
sell the future of your children tomorrow".


5. (C) Despite their alleged unwillingness to buy votes,
every candidate with whom we've spoken acknowledges that they
are deluged with calls from vote sellers. Most often these
are individuals looking for a little extra cash for
themselves and their families, but some candidates report
that they have been approached by tribal notables who are
willing to sell blocks of votes. A candidate for the
Christian seat in Madaba received such a call during a visit
by Embassy officers. Theatrically chastising the seller, the
candidate said in Arabic, "No, I don't buy votes. Don't you
know that people from foreign embassies are watching?"


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6. (C) The estimated price of a vote varies. The general
consensus among post contacts is that 100 JD (USD 70) is the
going rate for a vote, but some candidates have placed it as
high as 200 JD (USD 140) and as low as 50 JD (USD 35). One
candidate said that voters were being offered 100 JD plus a
mobile phone. Candidates have also told poloffs that the
cost of buying votes increases closer to election day. A
candidate from the Balqa district (who had just outlined in
detail his method of transferring the constituencies of his
tribal supporters) remarked that the problem with vote buying
is that it is a waste of money. "Just look at the municipal
elections," he said. "The candidates who bought votes lost.
The people just took the money and never voted." A candidate
in Madaba estimated that only twenty percent of vote sellers
would actually follow through on their promises. Note: If
votes really sell for 100 JD each, vote buying is probably
uneconomical for most candidates. The average total budget
most candidates are willing to reveal to us is between
100,000 JD and 200,000 JD (USD 70,000-140,000) - not enough
at these prices to buy the votes necessary to prevail in any
race. End Note.

How To Buy A Vote
--------------


7. (SBU) Our contacts tell us that there are several ways to
buy votes. The most common (which has been reported in the
media) is that a voter goes into the polling station with a
blank piece of paper that looks like a ballot. Instead of
voting with the ballot provided, they use the blank piece of
paper and keep the blank ballot for themselves. Once
outside, they are paid for this blank official ballot. The
next voter then goes into the polling station with the
official ballot pre-marked with the name of the preferred
candidate. They then vote with that pre-marked ballot, and
leave the station with another blank ballot, creating a chain
that can be used throughout the day. This system allows vote
buyers to confirm that their money is being well spent.


8. (SBU) Another method allegedly involves declaring oneself
to be illiterate. Illiterate voters are allowed to verbally
declare their preferred candidate to the assembled polling
station staff, who then mark the ballot accordingly.
Candidates or their representatives, who are legally charged
with monitoring the progress of the polls, are present to
hear the "illiterate" voter's preference, and arrange for
payment later on. NGO observers in July's municipal
elections noted use of this method (particularly on the part,
it is said, of soldiers bused en masse to polling centers),
and called for reforms and consistency across electoral
districts in the way the ballots of illiterate voters are
counted.


9. (C) One candidate mentioned that rather than buying
votes, some campaigns are paying people not tQvote. This
would likely work best in a district with conflicting tribal
loyalties, where paying off one tribe not to vote could tip
the balance in favor of a candidate from a neighboring tribe.

Buying Votes Or Providing Services?
--------------


10. (C) For some candidates, the line between buying votes
and providing services is a difficult gray area. One Madaba
candidate became known to voters through his tribal
connections, which allowed him to find jobs and solve
problems for his constituents. For many voters, this kind of
service provision through "connections" is a prime
qualification for any candidate. Most Jordanians we have
talked to see their representatives as a personal entree into
the bureaucracy - a "fixer" who can cut through red tape and
make things happen. Yet in the context of a campaign, this
can be seen as a form of corruption. The Madaba candidate
decided that for the duration of his campaign, he would stop
providing these kinds of services so as to avoid any
implication that he was "buying" votes in any way.


11. (C) One of his rivals, a former Madaba municipal council
member and deputy mayor, had the opposite strategy. He used
his medical practice as a campaign tool, offering free and
low-cost medical services and providing connections in
Jordan's medical bureaucracy to the community as a way of
showing his constituents that he was concerned about their
welfare and had a solid background in providing services. By
doing so, he had acquired a reputation as being "close to the
people" and "compassionate", something recognized even by
several of his competitors.

The Politics of Personal Destruction
--------------


12. (C) Candidates report that malicious rumors are an

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effective means of negative campaigning, and are used often.
Allegations of being "the government's candidate" or "an
intelligence service candidate" are widespread. Note: For
some candidates, being a "government candidate" is an
advantage - the assumption being that the government is
throwing its resources behind one person, effectively ending
the competition for certain seats. End Note. An NGO
activist in Zarqa who ran several times for parliament in
previous elections said that she was accused of having ties
to Israel. "They said that I was taking money from Israeli
NGOs and using it on my campaign - that I was an Israeli
agent," she said.


13. (U) On October 29, the English language Jordan Times
reported that school age children in the Baqa'a refugee camp
were passing out leaflets that contained slogans implying
connections between an Islamist candidate and Hamas. The
leaflet also declared: "The former deputy from this camp did
nothing to help his people. He is a corrupt man who spent
his tenure in Parliament traveling around the world instead
of taking care of our needs. Four years after we elected
him, he wants us to vote for him (again)." The same article
reported the spread of election-related rumors in the
northern city of Irbid. The rumor mill reported one
candidate to have placed his elderly mother (who was in
reality deceased) in a care facility rather than personally
deal with her needs.


14. (C) Since issue-based campaigns are rare in Jordan, most
candidates run on their reputations as clean, honest people.
Voters we talk to often characterize their chosen candidate
as "a good person" or "very honest". In this context, any
tinge of corruption can sink a candidate's chances.
Accusations of vote buying are seen by many candidates as the
most damning way to chip away at an opponent's credibility.
In our meetings, candidates will adamantly deny buying votes
themselves, but insist that all other candidates in the race
are doing so. A female candidate in Madaba told us that one
of her rivals, current MP Falak Jam'ani (an IAF candidate),
was virtually assured election because "everybody knows that
she is buying votes." Another Madaba candidate reported
rumors of phones being given away by his rivals.

Intimidation
--------------


15. (C) There are scattered reports both in the media and
from candidates themselves about physical intimidation as a
political weapon. The Jordan Times reported on November 1
that Mohammed Quteish, a candidate in Madaba's first
district, was attacked in his car by a group of twenty young
men after a campaign event in a neighborhood known as the
stronghold of a rival candidate. Clashes between supporters
of rival candidates have also been reported near Irbid, where
the Ad Dustour newspaper reported on November 2 that a
campaign headquarters was vandalized by "unknown men".
Mohammed Ali Abu Al Haya, a candidate from Madaba, told us
that his first election tent was burned down by unidentified
assailants. A few weeks later, he was attacked by four men
with knives while on his way home from a long night of
campaigning. Fortunately for him, Al Haya recognized one of
the men from his time in prison (where he served time for
drug-related offenses),and he was able to escape unharmed.

Government Reaction
--------------


16. (U) In an interview with the semi-official Petra News
Agency on November 6, King Abdullah reiterated his stance
that "the government is required to conduct free, fair, and
transparent elections." In a November 7 visit to Irbid,
Interior Minister Eid al Fayez echoed that statement, saying
that "all necessary measures should be taken to ensure free
and fair elections." Fayez has also made several statements
warning the purveyors of dirty tricks that they will be
prosecuted to the full extent of the law. On October 31, two
Amman residents were caught in the act of buying votes after
police were tipped off by local citizens. There have been no
other reports of prosecutions or cases being prepared against
purveyors of dirty tricks.

Comment
--------------


17. (C) In a campaign where the personality of the
candidates is one of the main criteria by which voters make
their decisions, one of the best ways to challenge opponents
effectively is by sullying their character. Hence the
perceived prominence of vote buying, mud slinging, and
occasionally, physical intimidation as campaign issues in an
otherwise calm political season. In the absence of
well-organized debates around the policy issues facing Jordan

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by candidates who feel comfortable speaking about their
ideological convictions, such dirty tricks will remain an
element of many campaigns that will overshadow the larger
progress Jordan hopes to highlight. Yet in the end, dirty
tricks are having one certain effect: they are alienating
voters (REF D),who continue to express their dismay at the
lowest common denominator of campaigning often on display.
Hale