PRIVATE POLL IN KUWAIT REVEALS MAJORITY OF MEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001912 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2015 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS SUBJECT: PRIVATE POLL IN KUWAIT REVEALS MAJORITY OF MEN SUPPORT WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS REF: A. KUWAIT 1091 ¶B. 04 KUWAIT 4540 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Political up-and-comer Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah (ref B) provided the Ambassador with the results from a poll he commissioned indicating 50% of Kuwaiti men back full political rights for women. Another 28% support women's right to vote, but not pursue elected office, while 22% oppose women's political participation to any degree. The results mirror those of other surveys (ref A). The poll was conducted in March, just weeks after the start of the GOK push for women's political rights. ¶2. (C) The poll reveals a positive correlation between men of a certain age and support for women's rights. Among men 45 and older, 67% back women's suffrage while that number drops to only 38% for those under 30. Sixty-one percent of those with a monthly salary of at least 2,000KD ($6,920) approve while those with less than 800KD ($2,770) back the measure by 41%. Level of education had a minor impact on the results, with support from high school drop-outs to university graduates hovering around 50%. The survey indicates that 43% of men believe women's political rights are contrary to Islamic shari'a. Of those who oppose women's suffrage, 50% believe that new political liberties will lead to neglect of the family. ¶3. (C) Shaykh Mohammed reported that this poll is one of many he has commissioned on a variety of political and social topics. The Pan Arab Research Center, the local affiliate of Gallup International, conducted the private poll, sampling approximately 2,000 Kuwaiti men. The GOK did not publicly release the poll results. The young Shaykh further told us that, despite his best efforts, polling data has negligible impact on senior ruling family members. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LEBARON