KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION, CORRUPTION, AND VOTE BUYING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002264 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PREL KDEM PGOV KU SUFFRAGE SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION, CORRUPTION, AND VOTE BUYING Block Quotes -------------- Tuesday, June 13, 2006 -- Dr. Fawzi Salman Al-Khawari wrote in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Watan under the title "The Candidate's Index" (6/13): "A new trend has taken hold during the elections in which some candidates chose to appear in photos in the aggressive position of pointing with their index fingers. This position in sign language symbolizes threat, intimidation, and a readiness to pounce. Who are these candidates threatening? Who are they trying to intimidate? And who will they pounce on? .... The 29th is coming no doubt, and I see fingers have ripened and the time has come to harvest them. We hope of those who are pointing their fingers, or those who took a thousand photos so they can choose one to be placed on a billboard, turn their speeches into action. We hope they will keep their index fingers pointed in the face of the corrupt and that their voices tell the truth." -- Abdul Rahman Al-Najar penned in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Watan under the title "Women and their enemies in the elections" (6/13): "There is no doubt that women in Kuwait and everywhere else are now aware of who their enemies are and who their supporters are. The enemies of women were not opposed to them on certain issues and supportive of them on others. They were against them throughout. They were against them winning their rights outlined by the constitution over 40 years ago.... They are now wooing women for their votes in order to reach the National Assembly where they will be side-by-side with the winning women candidates. Our question to them is if women's presence in the Assembly is forbidden then why participate in a council where the forbidden thing occurs? Did you not hear of 'avoiding suspicions,' or is this your new understanding of the religion? -- Writer and researcher Bandar Ayed Al-Zafiri editorialized in the pro-government Arabic-language daily Al-Seyassah under the title "The Media is Not All Money" (6/13): "We are fed up with the discussion of corruption and reform and the number of districts to the point that our national concerns that were at the forefront before these elections have been forgotten. They have tightened the noose on us and stole our sight and hearing to the point that news as big as the death of Zarqawi passed over Kuwait almost unnoticed, knowing that we are one of the countries most affected by this news and other world news. As we are an open country without any taboos, we deal with events wherever they may occur...." -- Ahmed Al-Deyyain argued in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "No Orders" (6/13): "Maybe the Minister of Interior and Minister of Defense Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak was correct in comparing vote dealers to drug dealers. They both harm national interests, but to be more specific, vote dealing is also a crime against the national security of the state because it aims to corrupt the legislature, one of the three branches of government. It seeks to control it and have its legislation and oversight serve personal interests. Some interests of individuals and big multinational companies oppose the national interests of the state and large sections of Kuwaiti society.... Surely, the national security and intelligence apparatuses know who the corrupt candidates are, where they distribute their monies, and the names of their agents. But the saying by a desperate Iraqi officer during the Palestine war applies here 'no orders.'" -- Dr. Sajid Al-Abdali inquired in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "How to Break the Cycle" (6/13): "....It goes without saying that reducing the number of districts and increasing the number voters in each district will make it difficult for any group to monopolize it and will give the minorities a chance to have representatives in parliament. ... I have written that it is not simply a matter of reducing the number of districts because the devil could be in the details making any reform tragic.... The solution is to simply have the system through which candidates run for office based on their programs and platforms. Prerequisite is to have these programs and platforms be developmental to the nation and not sectarian or tribal or religious. Every list that does not comply should be rejected. Then and only then will the cycle be broken." -- Abdul Latif Al-Daiej noted in the progressive Arabic-language daily Al-Qabas under the title "The Islamists Reveal the Ugly Face" (6/13): ".... All those that are religious, if they are honest, work towards the afterlife and have no concern with the future or present. I believe the religious. The most religious are the KUWAIT 00002264 002 OF 002 Salafists. As for the Ikhwan and those affiliated with Al-Qaeda they maneuver and strike below the belt. The Salafists made their declaration plain and clear that they support the candidates who present a religion-based platform. We do not object though we have that right as partners in the trenches fighting corruption as is the entire country. Therefore, the declaration to support those candidates simply means rejecting the rest thereby putting the good with the bad.... I may be naove but I still think it dangerous to fight the reformist candidates, the ones that are good, because that means supporting the corrupt." -- Yousef Al-Rashid contended in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Anbaa under the title "Women Candidates and the Oppression Complex" (6/13): ".... We call on women to leave the old slogans about the old historical injustice of how men kept them out of the political life and to use their victory in this battle as motivation. This was a victory for all of Kuwait: men, women, government, and population. Women candidates should focus now on issues of national interest and ones that touch citizens' lives. Voters do not go to seminars for history lessons, they go to find out how the candidate envisions the next four years in our country." -- Jamal Al-Suwaifan inquired in the moderate Arabic-language daily Al-Anbaa under the title "Who Will Stop the Buying of Consciences?" (6/13): "The intensity of electoral seminars has increased, and the voices on vote-buying became louder in most districts, if not all.... Security apparatuses should move during the coming days to arrest hundreds if not thousands of morally-corrupting elements and bring them to justice, which will then carry out a just punishment so that they will be an example to others in the years to come. We say this because the corrupt know no religion, country, or people. Their only concern is to reach the seats of power in order to make up for the losses they incurred during these days from buying the consciences of the weak, the needy, and those of perverse behavior." ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * TUELLER