JORDAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ELECTIONS BRING

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002492

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ELA, EEB, INR/B
TUNIS FOR FSI STUDENT WONG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2019
TAGS: ECON PGOV SOCI KDEM PINR JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ELECTIONS BRING
VICTORIES FOR ACTIVISTS IN AMMAN; FIRST WOMAN ELECTED

REF: A. AMMAN 2141

B. AMMAN 1804

C. 08 AMMAN 1834

Classified By: DCM Lawrence C. Mandel for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Summary: Jordan held its first elections for chambers
of commerce since 1998 in early October, choosing board
members for 17 commerce organizations: 16 local chambers and
the nationwide Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC). The results
swept activist members into the Amman Chamber of Commerce
(ACC),Jordan's largest and most economically significant
chamber. The elections also saw Reem Badran elected as the
first woman ever to serve in any chamber of commerce in
Jordan, a significant milestone for women in Jordan's
democratic process. She earned leadership positions as well,
having been elected the Second Vice Chair in both the ACC and
JCC. End summary.

A Primer on the Chambers
--------------


2. (U) Jordan held its first chamber of commerce elections
since 1998 in early October. More than a decade has passed
since the previous elections because of the government's
decision to pass a new Chambers of Commerce Law in 2003, and
the subsequent need to align the various chamber by-laws and
procedures with the new law. Jordan has 17 chambers of
commerce in total, including 16 at the local level and one
nationwide chamber. The reasons for such a large number of
organizations include the practical and political. The need
to let businesses register in their localities as opposed to
having to come to Amman is one practical aspect of having
local chambers. Politically, having many chambers ensures
that Amman can not dominate the other chambers, and allows
for a certain degree of patronage, for local businessmen to
capitalize on the prestige associated with being a board
member representing their local communities within the
country. The nationwide Jordan Chamber of Commerce is
comprised of 30 members: the 15 board presidents of each
local chamber excluding Amman, five representatives from the
board of directors of the Amman Chamber of Commerce, and one
representative from each of ten business sectors. The
sectors represented in the JCC are the automobile, clothing
and jewelry, construction, electronics, finance and banking,
foodstuffs, furniture, health and pharmaceuticals,
telecommunications, and services and consultancy sectors.
(Note: Jordan has 12 governorates but 16 chambers of
commerce, with the smaller towns of Southern Mazar, Ramtha,
Ruseifa, and South Shouna having their own chambers, distinct
from those of the governorates in which those towns are
located. End note.)

Activists Elected to Amman Chamber
--------------


3. (C) The key battleground in the elections was over the
ACC, the strongest chamber, which, consistent with the
country's demography, includes about three-quarters or 15,000
eligible member voters out of the total of about 20,000
voters in all of Jordan. (Note: While there are 45,000
members of the various chambers of commerce throughout
Jordan, about 20,000 members have voting rights, depending on
the value of their business investments. End Note.) Amman
saw 28 candidates grouped into three major blocks vie for the
nine seats in the ACC Board of Directors. The Labor bloc won
five of the nine seats in the ACC Board, while the two other
blocs--Change and Development, and Future--each won two
seats. Reem Badran, CEO of Kuwaiti Jordanian Holding Co.,
who earned a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins School
for Advanced International Studies in Washington, won a seat
as an ACC Board member from the Labor bloc and was
subsequently elected to both ACC and JCC leadership
positions. She described to EconOffs what she termed three
trends among candidates for the chamber: the activist,
neutral, and traditionalist trends.


4. (C) Badran described her Labor bloc as activist and

supportive of a more visible policy role for the ACC. She
asserted that the Labor bloc advocated a more active posture,
with younger members willing to engage the government on
issues important to the business community. Riad Saifi, who
led the Labor bloc and was elected President of the ACC
Board, told EconOffs that he had three main goals going into
the election for his bloc: to include young professionals, a
woman, and a Christian on the ticket. He accomplished all
three of these. Illustrating Saifi's efforts, Badran shared
with EconOffs that Saifi, who has close ties to the business
elite in upscale West Amman as well as to the lower-rung
businessmen of downtown Amman, personally accompanied her to
visit the conservative business district of downtown Amman to
help shore up support for her, and for his bloc. In
contrast, she defined the traditionalists (and to a lesser
extent the neutral trend candidates) in the election as those
businessmen seeking to continue the generally apathetic
policy posture of the ACC over the last decade.


5. (C) Badran's election represents an important milestone
for women in Jordan. While women are active in business,
Badran, in addition to being the first woman elected to the
ACC and JCC Boards as well as to leadership roles in the two
boards, is also the first woman to ever become a Board member
of any of Jordan's 17 chambers of commerce. Her victory is
further significant also because with 1,943 votes, she
received more votes than any other candidate for any of the
chambers throughout Jordan. For example, her vote total far
surpassed the less than 300 votes won by the Board President
of the Aqaba Chamber of Commerce, Nael Karabiti, who was also
elected JCC Board President.

Priorities for the Amman Chamber
--------------


6. (C) Saifi and Badran separately described to EconOffs
their priorities for the ACC during meetings in late October
and early November. Badran, focused on policy issues,
outlined her and the Chamber's opposition to the substance of
the recently-withdrawn tax law and her view that the
government's proposed food company was a bad idea (refs A and
B). She also stated her firm opposition to the practice of
government-imposed provisional laws (ref C). Saifi agreed on
the need for the government to start over on a new tax law as
the ACC membership opposed the government's version. He also
disagreed with the government's imposition of provisional
elements of the draft social security law and he stressed the
need for a re-working of the Chambers of Commerce Law,
lamenting the fact that the Amman Chamber was in a weaker
position in the JCC because of the 2003 law that defined the
current system. Saifi was concerned that the ACC's influence
had been diminished and Amman could now be outvoted by the 15
other chambers, plus one (any one of the remaining 15
members),in the 30-member JCC Board even though the ACC
represents three-quarters of all members of Jordan's various
chambers of commerce together, is the strongest financially,
accounts for 82% of Jordan's economy, and covers 75% of the
JCC's budget. Saifi was also keen on improving the ACC's
professionalism and enhancing its influence and profile in
Jordan and abroad. Both Saifi and Badran both were
optimistic that they would be able to work with the
government on their priorities for Amman's business community.


7. (C) Comment: The election of Jordan's first woman member
of a chamber of commerce is a significant milestone for women
in Jordan's democratic process. Badran's generally positive
assessment of the process to win election could portend her
future electoral participation, though she declined to
indicate to EconOffs whether she intends to run for
parliament in 2011. What remains uncertain is whether
Badran's success signals a significant shift in the political
viability of women candidates among Jordanian voters, or
whether her name recognition, family reputation (her father
and uncle both served as Prime Minister),and her bloc were
the keys to her victory. End comment.

Visit Amman's Classified Website at:
http://diplopedia.state.sgov.gov/index.php?ti tle=Embassy Amman

Beecroft