Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KUWAIT4933
2005-11-29 10:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

PM TRIES TO CALM SUCCESSION FEARS; INSISTS AMIR

Tags:  PREL PGOV PINR KDEM SOCI KU SUCCESSION 
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VZCZCXRO9479
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #4933/01 3331006
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291006Z NOV 05
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1940
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004933 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM SOCI KU SUCCESSION
SUBJECT: PM TRIES TO CALM SUCCESSION FEARS; INSISTS AMIR
AND CROWN PRINCE WILL REMAIN IN POSITIONS

REF: KUWAIT 4264 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Matthew H. Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004933

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM SOCI KU SUCCESSION
SUBJECT: PM TRIES TO CALM SUCCESSION FEARS; INSISTS AMIR
AND CROWN PRINCE WILL REMAIN IN POSITIONS

REF: KUWAIT 4264 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Matthew H. Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary and comment: In an effort to silence
continued speculation over succession, Prime Minister Shaykh
Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in a November 22 interview,
firmly dismissed the possibility that either the Amir or the
Crown Prince, both in poor health, would step down from their
positions. Other Kuwaiti officials, including the National
Assembly Speaker and the Ambassador to the United Kingdom,
quickly backed his statements. PM Shaykh Sabah also paid a
rare visit to National Guard Chief Shaykh Salem Al-Ali
Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the leading member of the Salem branch and
a vocal family critic. National Assembly members' (MPs)
recent appeal for a resolution of the succession issue
appears to have prompted the Prime Minister's comments. Some
observers have argued, however, that PM Shaykh Sabah's
insistence on the Crown Prince remaining in his position is
unconstitutional. Critics (accurately) point out that the
Succession Law stipulates the Crown Prince be removed from
office when he can no longer perform his official duties.


2. (C) PM Shaykh Sabah's recent statements, while unlikely
to completely silence public speculation on succession,
indicate the Al-Sabah's preference for letting "nature take
its course," as one ruling family member recently confided to
Poloff. Salem family members may still chafe at control by
the Jaber lineage of key political positions, but are
significantly weakened and unable to alter the current
distribution of power, as evidenced by statements attributed
to Shaykh Salem Al-Ali in support of the Prime Minister. End
summary and comment.

Government Message: Amir and CP Will Remain in Positions
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) In response to mounting criticism of the ruling
family,s dispute over succession, Prime Minister Shaykh

Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah firmly stated that the "icons of the
ruling family will stay and won't be replaced by anyone as
long as they are alive" in a November 22 interview with the
Arabic-daily Al-Seyassah. Leading government officials
quickly echoed his statements. National Assembly Speaker
Jassem Al-Khorafi confirmed that "the Crown Prince will stay
in his place and there are no intentions for the ruling
family to change that," local media reported November 27. He
added, "We have declared allegiance to the Al-Sabah
family...and there are no differences whatsoever regarding
the relationship with the ruling family."


4. (SBU) Kuwait's Ambassador to the UK, Khaled Al-Duwaisan,
also highlighted the "unique and important social contract"
between the Al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti people during a November
25 seminar. Almost daily pictures in local newspapers of the
Crown Prince meeting with top government officials have
further underscored the illusion that he continues to perform
his official duties. (Note: Such pictures were rarely
published before the Crown Prince returned from medical
treatment in London on October 19 amidst renewed public
debate over succession. End note.)


5. (C) During a November 27 meeting on other issues, the
Ambassador queried Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary
Khaled Al-Jarallah on the public debate on succession and the
Prime Minister's calls for unity and comments that the matter
had been resolved. Al-Jarallah asserted that PM Shaykh Sabah
expressed the "spirit of the Kuwaiti people" when he said
that there is no such thing as a "former Crown Prince" or a
"former Amir."

PM Visits Outspoken, and Apparently Bested, Family Critic
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) In an apparent attempt to smooth over family
differences, PM Shaykh Sabah met November 22 with National
Guard Chief Shaykh Salem Al-Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabah, whose call
for the creation of a three-member committee to assist in
ruling the country touched off the most recent controversy
over succession and publicly aired ruling family divisions
over future leadership (reftel). Local media reported that
"sources close to the ruling family" said Shaykh Salem Al-Ali
appreciated the Prime Minister's efforts to end "needless
talk in the country and the region." Shaykh Salem Al-Ali
also reportedly told PM Shaykh Sabah in a telephone
conversation, "May Almighty Allah bless you for your great
efforts to unite the family. You have succeeded in confining
the affairs of the ruling family to its members and prevented
them from being discussed publicly." (Comment: It is telling

KUWAIT 00004933 002 OF 002


that these statements were not attributed to Shaykh Salem
Al-Ali directly.)

Parliamentary Pressure Prompts PM Shaykh Sabah,s Comments
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) National Assembly members, impassioned appeals for
a resolution of the succession issue likely prompted PM
Shaykh Sabah's recent comments. During the National
Assembly's November 15 session, Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager appealed to the
Amir "to swiftly resolve the crisis." He added, "What is
happening is not in the interest of the family or Kuwait.
Compromise within the family will stabilize the country."
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs,
and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Mohammed
Dhifallah Sharar said, "The situation of the royal family
disturbs the stability of the nation." Moderate Islamist
Shi'a MP Hussein Al-Qallaf added, "We need decisive decisions
to resolve the situation, which is neither healthy or
appropriate."

Not Everyone Convinced
--------------


8. (SBU) Some observers have argued that PM Shaykh Sabah's
insistence that the Crown Prince remain in his position is
unconstitutional. Al-Sager, despite his appeals for a speedy
resolution, said November 26, "I differ with Shaykh Sabah as
the Succession Law stipulates how the Amir and Crown Prince
would step down in certain circumstances and the
law...prevails." In a November 26 article in the
Arabic-daily Al-Qabas, liberal lawyer and columnist Imad Saif
wrote that the Prime Minister's statements "clash with the
constitution....The recent position of Shaykh Sabah on the
affairs of the ruling house contributes considerably to
freezing the process of change and development and the
launching of a comprehensive political reform process." In
the same issue, liberal lawyer and columnist, Abdul Latif
Al-Duaij, wrote, "The statements by Shaykh Sabah did not only
include freezing or suspending the Succession Law, but went
beyond the acceptable or even the debatable."

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