KUWAITIS STILL CELEBRATING WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002924

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI; CAIRO FOR PDAS CHENEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KWMN KMPI KU
SUBJECT: KUWAITIS STILL CELEBRATING WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AND
GOK APPOINTMENTS; PDAS CHENEY MEETS SOME OF THE REVELERS

REF: A. KUWAIT 2900


B. KUWAIT 2869

C. KUWAIT 2212


1. (U) More than one month after the historic decision
granting women full political rights and the subsequent GOK
appointment of one woman to the Council of Ministers and two
women to the Municipal Council, Kuwaitis continue to
celebrate the achievements with receptions, symposia, and
other almost weekly events. In the past week, Emboffs
attended a reception in honor of Minister of Planning and
Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs Dr.
Ma'souma Al-Mubarak and a gala hosted by a consortium of
educational and human rights organizations. A recurring
theme at the events, which brought together Sunni and Shi'a,
men and women, and the veiled and unveiled, was the need for
civic education to encourage women to take full advantage of
their new rights. NEA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
Elizabeth Cheney, who visited Kuwait June 24-25, participated
in three civil society events during which she congratulated
women on their recent political victories and restated U.S.
support for Kuwait's political transformation and offered
training if desired.

Lunch at the Dashti's
--------------


2. (U) Leading women's activist Dr. Rola Dashti, who is
already planning her campaign for a 2007 parliamentary seat,
hosted PDAS Cheney and a group of 20 women for lunch at her
home in Surra. Cheney expressed admiration for the Kuwaiti
women who waged a long campaign for their political rights
and also fielded questions from local media on a variety of
topics from political reform in Kuwait to the Iranian
presidential elections. Cheney engaged a group of women
ranging from fully-covered Shi'a Khadija Al-Mahmaid, a PhD
candidate who spoke of her own intentions to run for
Parliament, to the unveiled international law expert, Dr.
Badria Al-Awadi, in a discussion of next steps for Kuwaiti
women. The group had conflicting views on whether women would
actually vote for female candidates. They spoke of the need
to engage the large number of politically apathetic women,
especially those outside the capital, whose votes may go to
Islamist candidates likely to rely on spousal pressure to
influence women's electoral decisions. They also addressed
the need for electoral redistricting to limit vote-buying.
All welcomed training and assistance from the U.S. and many
spoke highly of the MEPI-funded campaign training workshop
administered by NDI in March and April.

Women Praise U.S. Support, Cold to Election Monitors
-------------- --------------


3. (U) PDAS Cheney told a group of approximately 30 women at
the Women's Cultural and Social Society that the U.S. is
looking at ways to support women's full political
participation by offering candidate training, polling
assistance and seminars allowing politically active women
from around the region to share their experiences. She then
opened the floor to Q&A. Participants thanked the U.S. for
its unwavering support leading up to the May 16 vote, and
several attendees repeated the refrain calling for increased
political awareness among marginalized women.


4. (U) When asked what role the U.S. would play in the 2007
elections, PDAS Cheney explained that the U.S. could assist
in voter education activities through MEPI, provide training
to Kuwaiti organizations to poll watch or organize
international observers were Kuwait to request them, a
comment not well received by some participants. One woman
predicted the presence of international observers "would
bring chaos," adding that "Kuwait is different" and unlike
Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, countries hosting observers in
recent elections. The media ran several stories based on the
misinterpretation of the comment (ref A).


5. (U) Cardiologist to the Prime Minister Dr. Farida
Al-Habib, who made clear her opposition to election
observers, nevertheless responded in an Arabic daily to
attacks by National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi on the
election observer comment. Al-Habib clarified that the PDAS
offered the international observers, which would not include
Americans, as one of many options available to Kuwait to
assist with the 2007 elections. Al-Khorafi had stated
publicly that PDAS' remark was an insult to a country with
the oldest working parliament in the Gulf.

Students Call for More Exchange Programs
--------------


6. (U) PDAS Cheney also meet with a group of young people
from the Kuwait Economic Society and 15 high school students
active in the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) exchange program
for high school juniors. All spoke positively of their
experiences in the U.S., argued that continued exposure to
U.S. values and practices would promote greater economic and
political reform in Kuwait, and recommended the establishment
of short-term summer exchange programs for youth from more
conservative families whose parents would likely object to an
entire year abroad. PDAS Cheney emphasized that the U.S.
remains open to visitors and praised the students for helping
to bridge the gaps between the U.S. and the Middle East.


7. (U) PDAS Cheney did not clear this message.

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