NATIONAL ASSEMBLY VS. GOVERNMENT: FOOTBALL MATCH

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004531 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI KU SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY VS. GOVERNMENT: FOOTBALL MATCH UNITES POLITICAL OPPOSITES ¶1. (SBU) Government Ministers and National Assembly members (MPs) faced off October 19 for their fifth annual Ramadan football match. Laying aside both their traditional dishdashas (robes) and their political differences, Ministers and MPs alike donned football jerseys to participate in the jovial match. Although political opposites, Islamists and liberals played together, united in a common goal: defeating the opposing team. Although leading at half-time, the Government lost the game 2 to 1 in the last minutes to the MPs, whose greater endurance proved the decisive factor. Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who played for the Government, joked with Poloff after the game that the Government had allowed the MPs to win the football match in exchange for the Government winning in the National Assembly. ¶2. (U) Playing on the Government team were Minister of Energy Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah, Minister of Justice Ahmed Baqer, Minister of Information Dr. Anas Al-Rashaid, Minister of Finance Bader Al-Humaidhi, Council of Ministers Secretary General Abdul Latif Al-Roudhan, Chairman of the Citizens' Services Agency Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, and editor-in-chief of the Arabic-daily Al-Watan Shaykh Khalifa Ali Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah. The National Assembly team featured independent Islamist MP Jassem Al-Kandari, liberal MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager, Salafi MP Abdullah Akkash, liberal MP Meshari Al-Anjari, Muslim Brotherhood MP Nasser Al-Sane, and liberal MP Ahmed Al-Mlaifi. The match was officiated by Waleed Al-Nisf, the editor-in-chief of Arabic-daily Al-Qabas. ********************************************* 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