ASSOCIATIONS LAW: PM RETURNS AMENDMENTS, ASKING

S E C R E T AMMAN 002716

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2018
TAGS: PGOV KDEM JO
SUBJECT: ASSOCIATIONS LAW: PM RETURNS AMENDMENTS, ASKING
AGAIN FOR PRIORITIES

REF: A. AMMAN 2702

B. AMMAN 2701

C. AMMAN 2685

D. AMMAN 2633

E. AMMAN 2359

F. AMMAN 2300

G. AMMAN 2062

H. AMMAN 1465

I. AMMAN 2585

Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d).


1. (S) Prime Minister Nader Dahabi told Ambassador September
21 that he was sending civil society's list of associations
law amendments back to the group of activists that produced
them; he is insisting that they identify their priorities on
the list. Dahabi asserted that he needs this prioritization
in order to defend the key fixes as the process moves
forward, particularly in Parliament where, he told the
Ambassador, "I do not have control."


2. (C) Comment: Dahabi's rejection of the amendments is
procedural, not substantive, and driven by the difficulty of
defending them en masse against the East Banker tribal
conservatives, both in parliament and in the cabinet, who
would take issue with their dramatic diminution of the
government's regulatory powers (Refs A and B). Civil society,
on the other hand, fears that Dahabi is attempting to pick
and choose reforms -- a move that their non-prioritized list
was designed to forestall, but at the risk of its being
indigestible for the government and parliament. Now that the
activists' strategy has failed, we anticipate a vigorous
debate within the selected group of NGO leaders about how to
proceed. The core issues are likely to be registration,
funding, and judicial oversight (ref B). Many of the other
proposed amendments are either cosmetic (resolution of
internal disputes, the fund for civil society) or can be
addressed in other laws (tax exemptions). As parliament's
October 5 re-opening looms, civil society will have to make a
quick decision if they are to keep the government seized of
the issue. End Comment.
Beecroft