(C) FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS STAFFDEL ABRAMOWITZ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000339

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/REA, NEA/PI, H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL KWMN ECON KU
SUBJECT: (C) FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS STAFFDEL ABRAMOWITZ

REFORM MUST BE GRADUAL

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Frank C. Urbancic, reason 1.4(d)

1.(C) A visiting staff delegation from the House
International Relations Committee (HIRC),led by Democratic
Chief Counsel David Abramowitz, met Foreign Minister Sheikh
Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah January 10 to discuss
political, economic, and educational reform efforts in
Kuwait. Dr. Mohammed relayed warm greetings to "friends" HIRC
Chairman Henry Hyde and HIRC Ranking Member Tom Lantos on
behalf of the Kuwaiti people. He assured the delegation that
the GOK remains committed to reform but stressed that reform
must be gradual in order to build consensus and win
parliamentary support.

(C) Women's Suffrage
--------------

2.(C) Dr. Mohammed outlined a three-pronged GOK strategy to
build domestic support, particularly within the National
Assembly, for women's political rights. (Note: An Amiri
decree granting women full political rights in 1999 was
defeated in the National Assembly by just two votes. End
Note). "We didn't do our homework" at that time, the FM
admitted. This time, he said, the GOK is being more thorough
to make reform "more palatable" to the National Assembly.

(a) The GOK is working to amend the Municipality Law to allow
women the right to vote and run for office at the municipal
council level. By starting at the municipal level rather than
a direct push for women's suffrage at the national level, the
GOK hopes to "neutralize" parliamentary opposition to the
idea from Islamist members, who occupy 15 out of 50 seats in
the current National Assembly. (Note: Many Islamist members
hold that Islam prohibits women from wielding political
power; municipal affairs are viewed as local issues, however,
so inclusion of women in governance at the municipal level
would raise their profiles without rising to a level the
Islamists might oppose. End Note).

(b) The GOK has asked the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic
Affairs regarding Islamic jurisprudence on women's suffrage.
The GOK is confident, Dr. Mohammed said, that the Ministry's
answer will be that Islamic law is inconclusive on the issue,
and that it is therefore up to "the leadership" of the
country to decide.

(c) Meanwhile, the GOK has already decided to appoint and
assign female Kuwaiti diplomats overseas to enhance the
public position of women. (Note: Kuwait has only one female
Ambassador at present. Out of 10 new senior GOK political
appointments in 2003, none were women. End Note). Dr.
Mohammed said the GOK is confident that this gradual,
consensus-building approach to women's suffrage will
encourage broader public support for the cause. He said it is
"ironic" that Kuwaiti women continue to lack political rights
yet play a pivotal role in business, civil society, and other
areas. He did not specify, however, if or when the GOK plans
to re-introduce a women's suffrage bill to the National
Assembly. (Note: Women's rights activists remain skeptical of
the GOK's intentions and depth of commitment to the women's
suffrage issue. An outspoken activist who met with the
delegation later in the day discounted the GOK's strategy as
insincere. On the face of it, however, it appears to be a
compromise way forward. End Note).

(C) Privatization
--------------

3.(C) On the economic front, Dr. Mohammed stressed that
privatization of state-owned industries, including petroleum,
is a key GOK long-term goal. However, he explained that many
GOK officials, parliamentarians, and others remain skeptical
of the benefits of privatization. The GOK will engage the
National Assembly and others, he added, in broader dialogue
on privatization in order to minimize fears of unemployment
and other adverse effects on Kuwaiti society. The GOK is
considering development of new laws, consistent with efforts
towards privatization, against monopolies and excessive
concentration of wealth, such as a progressive corporate tax
structure and other safeguards to ensure that privatization
benefits outweigh short-term losses.

(C) GCC Summit Developments
--------------

4.(C) Dr. Mohammed told the delegation that the GOK is
serious about substantive educational curriculum reform and
pointed out that an astonishing 50% of the leaders'
discussion at the December GCC Summit focused on this
sensitive issue. He did not, however, offer details on GOK
efforts to date to reform Kuwait's educational curricula.
Regarding the Summit, he outlined key developments including
the approval of the Arab Anti-Terror Agreement, and progress
in discussions on a common currency and trade area, rail
links, and labor liberalization: GCC Customs Union was
established in 2003; the GCC is on track to become a free
trade area in 2007, and plans to introduce a common currency
by 2010.

(C) Saudi Reform
--------------

5.(C) The delegation asked Dr. Mohammed for Kuwait's view on
political reform efforts in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Mohammed said
that the key to reform in Saudi Arabia is not to reduce or
eliminate religious teaching and information but rather to
ensure that the content of such teaching advocates progress,
tolerance, freedom, and openness. He argued that Islam has
been "hijacked by terrorists" and taken "out of context" to
justify extremist views. He supports Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah's national dialogue efforts to "galvanize" the
Kingdom's "silent majority" within the Islamist movement to
"reclaim" the true religion. He cautioned, however, that
reform in Saudi Arabia will be very slow and gradual because
of the Kingdom's unique position as the custodian of Islam's
two holiest sites, and because the Saudi people are much more
conservative than the regime.

6.(U) Staffdel Abramowitz did not clear this message.
URBANCIC