FREEDOM AGENDA: GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM BLOSSOMS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 002150

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM BLOSSOMS IN
KUWAIT'S ORANGE MOVEMENT

REF: A. KUWAIT 1744

B. KUWAIT 1642

Classified By: CDA Matt Tueller for reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C/NF) Summary and comment: Perhaps the most remarkable
aspect of Kuwait's recent "orange revolution" is the role
played by the ad hoc coalition of pro-reform youth
organizations known as the "orange movement." These youth
organizations, which include both liberals and Islamists and
were not previously united, coalesced spontaneously around
the issue of electoral reform. Though they operated
independently, these diverse groups coordinated with each
other through pro-reform websites/blogs and SMS and succeeded
in generating a groundswell of popular support for electoral
reform, ultimately driving members of Parliament's insistence
on five constituencies. It remains to be seen if these
diverse groups can translate their successful pro-reform,
anti-corruption campaign to the June 29 parliamentary
elections without the movement splitting over the groups'
support for different candidates. Many of those involved in
the orange movement are already lobbying candidates to adopt
political reform as their central campaign issue and are
targeting corrupt candidates. According to one activist,
their ultimate goal is to see a less corrupt, more
reform-minded Parliament elected. Although this pro-reform
youth movement is just one of many interest groups lobbying
candidates to support their vision of Kuwait's future, its
members have demonstrated the potential for grassroots
political activism in Kuwait, and contributed instrumentally
to a growing awareness of corruption and interest in
political reform among the broader Kuwaiti public. End
summary and comment.

Peeling the Orange Movement
--------------


2. (C/NF) The "orange movement" is a loose coalition of
diverse pro-reform youth organizations and individuals that
have united in support of a common goal: reducing the number
of electoral constituencies from 25 to five in order to
combat corruption in Kuwait. These groups span Kuwait's
political spectrum, including both liberals and Islamists,
though they are not supported directly by any of Kuwait's
main political blocs. (Comment: The majority of these
organizations are not officially recognized NGOs, of which
there are only 76 in Kuwait; rather, they are informal
organizations grouping like-minded persons/friends who
support a particular cause or issue. End comment.) The
movement came together spontaneously, sparked by pro-reform
blogs and websites and organized through SMS. Since the
movement relied primarily on electronic communication, many
of those supporting the movement still do not know who
organized the rallies or which other groups/individuals were
involved. Though they cooperated in a loose sense, each
organization operated independently, printing its own
materials and rallying its own supporters. As momentum grew,
more and more people attended the rallies and/or read the
pro-reform websites, contributing to greater public awareness
of the issue and increased pressure on the Government and
Parliament to implement electoral reform legislation. With
Parliament dissolved, the challenge for these organizations
will be maintaining momentum and cohesion in their
pro-reform, anti-corruption campaign.

Orange for Reform
--------------


3. (C/NF) According to Dana Al-Salem, a liberal Kuwaiti in
her late-twenties, the orange movement started in mid-April
when three liberal youth organizations - the Kuwait Youth
Organization, Vote 2007, and Student Strength (Quwa
Al-Tulabiya) - organized a meeting of 39 local youth
organizations to support electoral reform as a means of
reducing political corruption in Kuwait. (Bio note: Dana
studied Political Science at Trinity University in
Washington, DC and helped found Vote 2007, an organization
dedicated to getting out the vote. She also serves as the
Vice President of the Kuwait Youth Organization and a Board
member of the National Democratic Alliance, a liberal
political association. End note.) The 39 organizations,
which included the influential National Union of Kuwait
Students (NUKS) and its affiliate, the Kuwait University
Student Union, agreed to contribute 100 KD ($346) each to
place an ad in three local newspapers saying simply, "We Want
Five."


4. (C/NF) The ad received considerable attention and helped
increase support for electoral reform, Dana said. To

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capitalize on their success, the youth organizations, led by
the Kuwait Youth Organization, Vote 2007, and Student
Strength, organized a series of rallies in support of five
constituencies. Dana believed these rallies, particularly
the overnight rally held prior to the key May 15
parliamentary debate on the issue, were crucial to
galvanizing public support and pressuring pro-reform
parliamentarians (MPs) to insist on five constituencies
rather compromise with the Government on a ten constituency
proposal. It was this ad hoc coalition of youth
organizations that ultimately drove the MPs' confrontation
with the Government over electoral reform, rather than the
movement being a tool the MPs used to pressure the
Government, as some observers initially suggested.


5. (C/NF) According to Dana, fractures in the movement began
to emerge when the Islamist-dominated NUKS tried to take
credit for and leadership of later rallies. They succeeded
to some degree, requiring the segregation of males and
females and reading Qu'ranic verses over the loudspeakers,
though most liberal organizations were willing to temporarily
ignore these actions in the interest of maintaining the
movement's momentum. After the Amir constitutionally
dissolved Parliament on May 21, the groups struggled to
maintain their unity and momentum. It remains to be seen if
they can translate their successful pro-reform,
anti-corruption campaign to the elections without the
movement splitting over the various groups' support for
different candidates.

Phase II: "Paint the District Orange"
--------------


6. (C/NF) Dana told Poloff that one segment of the orange
movement with which she is heavily involved was planning to
launch "Phase II" of the movement on June 7. This second
phase will target corrupt candidates in five districts.
During four-day campaigns in each district, pro-reformers aim
to "paint the district orange" in an effort to demonstrate
popular support for reform and highlight problems of
corruption. To this end, they have prepared packages, which
include orange t-shirts, flags, and bumper stickers, to give
to supporters of reform in each district. Each campaign will
culminate in a major pro-reform rally in that district. The
group also plans to hold one final rally in front of
Parliament on June 28, the evening before the elections.
Dana said the group hoped to raise 37,000 KD ($128,000) from
sympathetic individuals to support their campaign, and
reported that they had already raised more than a third of
that amount in just three days. Dana explained that they
were not supporting any one candidate, rather they wanted to
demonstrate their support for pro-reform candidates and
opposition to corrupt candidates. The ultimate goal, she
said, was to get a less corrupt, more reform-minded
Parliament elected, which would then reduce the number of
electoral constituencies and pass other important political
reforms.


7. (C/NF) Others from the orange movement have adopted
different strategies and some openly support particular
candidates. Mohammed Al-Boushehri, a liberal Shi'a who
participated in the orange movement, told Poloff he and a
number of others involved in the movement had agreed to
support Adnan Abdel Samad, a Shi'a candidate affiliated with
the National Islamic Alliance (NIA),a highly conservative,
pro-Iran Shi'a political association. Al-Boushehri explained
that although he disagreed with Samad's ideological leanings,
he would support him because Samad was both pro-reform and
strong enough to stand up to the Government. (Bio note:
Al-Bousherhri is a member of the National Democratic Alliance
and the Kuwait Democratic Forum, both liberal political
associations. He helped found the Dialogue Center
(www.kwtanweer.com),a group devoted to facilitating
communication between different segments of Kuwaiti society.
Al-Boushehri received a degree in industrial engineering from
a university in Dayton, Ohio. End note.)

Cyber Activism
--------------


8. (S/NF) The three main websites/blogs devoted to the
pro-reform goals of the orange movement are: www.alommah.org,
www.kuwaitjunior.blogspot.com, and www.kuwait5.org. (Note:
All three websites are in Arabic. End note.) Bashar
Al-Sayegh, who operates alommah.com, told Poloff he did not
know who ran kuwaitjunior and its subsidiary website,
Kuwait5, though he communicated with them through email. He
reported that hits on his site grew steadily since the
beginning of the year and skyrocketed during the electoral

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reform debate, reaching 200,000 hits in April and even more
in May. (Note: Kuwait has approximately one million citizens
of whom 340,000 are registered to vote. End note.) Asked
his motivation for promoting political reform, Al-Sayegh, who
works for an Internet company, said he had always been
interested in politics and wanted to "change the country's
negative trends (i.e. corruption)." He expressed hope that
the next Parliament would again walk out if the Government
refused to adopt five constituencies. Al-Sayegh was
hard-pressed, though, to explain why the movement met with so
much popular support. "We had no idea this would happen," he
said.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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