BRUNEI LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - MORE SMALL STEPS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000105

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KISL BX
SUBJECT: BRUNEI LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - MORE SMALL STEPS
FORWARD

REF: A. 06 BANDAR 157


B. 05 BANDAR 425

Classified By: DCM Justin Friedman, Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Brunei took another small step forward on the path to
more representative government when the State Legislative
Council (LegCo) convened for its third session March 6-11.
Repeating last year's move toward greater fiscal transparency
(ref A),the appointed and indirectly-elected members of the
LegCo debated and approved a BDOL 4.6 billion (USD 3.0
billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1. The
Sultan emphasized "accountability" in his opening remarks and
non-government member Pehin Goh King Chin pushed the envelope
of public debate with a call for greater rights and
privileges for permanent residents, who include many ethnic
Chinese that have deep roots in Brunei but do not enjoy the
same status as the primarily ethnic Malay citizenry. While
political party leaders criticized the LegCo as mere "window
dressing" and pressed for direct elections to the body, this
year's session demonstrates that the Sultan is continuing his
policy of ever-so-cautiously taking small steps toward a more
accountable and transparent form of governance, and that most
Bruneians remain satisfied with the deliberate pace of his
top-down political reforms. END SUMMARY.

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POMP AND LEGISLATE
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2. (C) In an opening ceremony replete with full dress pomp
and protocol, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah opened the third
session of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on March 6. As
has been the case since the Sultan revived the LegCo in 2005,
none of its 30 current members attained their seats via
direct popular vote. LegCo membership consisted of the
Sultan and Crown Prince, 12 members of the government
cabinet, 5 district representatives elected by their fellow
village heads, and 11 members appointed by the Sultan
(included in this last group is the Speaker of the LegCo, who
not uncoincidentally also happens to be father-in-law to one
of the Sultan's daughters.)


3. (C) In a signal of the increasing importance of
transparency in government finance, the Sultan called on "all
government agencies entrusted with the State budget
allocation to manage it with full accountability and use it
according to plans." Prior to the session, senior officials
from the Ministries of Defense, Industry and Primary
Resources, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Finance had told us
that they were spending extra time on this year's budget
preparation in anticipation of sharp questions from the
non-government members of the LegCo. Hj Mohammad Rozan
Yunus, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance
and the not-so-anonymous voice behind the Brunei Resources
website and blog told us that he and his staff had devoted
considerably more time this year than last to prepare
briefing materials and backgrounders to be ready for tough
questions from LegCo members.


4. (SBU) Although there were serious (and not-so-serious)
questions and comments about several aspects of the budget
draft during the LegCo session, as expected the budget
presented by the government was eventually approved without
amendment. The LegCo unanimously passed a BDOL 4.6 billion
budget (USD 3.0 billion) , with projected revenues of BDOL
5.8 driven (USD 3.8 billion) largely by expected continuing
high world oil prices. National defense and security took
the largest share with approved spending of BDOL 1.3 billion
(USD 850 million),of which the Ministry of Defense will get
some BDOL 520 million (USD 341 million). Other major budget
priorities are plans to invest BDOL 996 (USD 653 million) in
human resource development including schools, the new Islamic
University of Brunei, and other training programs; BDOL 785
million (USD 515 million) for infrastructure development; and
BDOL 236 million (USD 155 million) to support development of
the private sector and non-oil and gas industries. As with
previous years, Brunei's big challenge will be to spend all
the funds allocated. We have heard estimates that for the
current budget year ending March 31, from BDOL 500 million to
1 billion (USD 328-656 million) will be left unspent and
uncommitted.

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No Big Surprises

BANDAR SER 00000105 002 OF 002


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5. (C) In this absolute monarchy that prides itself on being
the "abode of peace" and in conducting public debate within
tight restraints, it is not surprising that there were few
fireworks at this year's session. Pehin Goh King Chin, a
leading ethnic Chinese businessman, Brunei citizen and LegCo
member, took perhaps the boldest public stance, suggesting
that the GoB relax restrictions on foreign citizens ownership
of land, homes and commercial property. He also suggested
that Brunei introduce medical insurance for permanent
residents who are not eligible for the free care afforded
citizens. Although Pehin Goh was careful to refer
generically to "foreign citizens" and "permanent residents,"
it was clear to all that he was speaking on behalf of the
thousands of ethnic Chinese permanent residents, some of whom
come from families that have been in Brunei for generations
but have never been granted citizenship and so do not enjoy
the same rights and privileges of Bruneian citizens who are
overwhelmingly ethnic Malays. Other complaints aired during
the session were the petty and parochial issues that often
occupy legislatures - not enough spending on roads and
infrastructure in certain locations, increasing pensions for
widows, and a call for free parking at hospitals. Sessions
were open to the public, but few other than media and post's
Pol/Mil assistant chose to attend.

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Political Parties Critical
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6. (C) By law, government officials and LegCo members are
barred from membership in political parties. Dr. Mohd Hatta
Zainal Abidin, President of the Brunei Solidarity National
Party (PPKB) told us that the LegCo was mere "window
dressing." He said that until there were elections and
cabinet members were drawn from the LegCo (instead of the
current practice of Sultan-appointed cabinet members as
ex-officio LegCo members) and there was a real opposition,
these sessions would not be any more than a rubber stamp on
government plans. Mahmood Morshidi Othman, Deputy President
of the newer and larger National Development Party (NDP),
echoed in more circumspect terms Hatta's criticism of the
current LegCo.

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When Elections?
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7. (C) Neither Morshidi nor Hatta were optimistic that an
expected expansion of the LegCo to include directly elected
members would happen soon (reftels). During a call by
Ambassador and DCM in December, Speaker of the LegCo Pg. Dr.
Hj Kemaludin Mohd Yassin was non-responsive to our questions
about when elections would be held and what preparatory steps
were being taken. Kemaludin repeated several times that
Brunei treasured stability, implying that elections would
introduce an element of uncertainty that could threaten that
stability. However, Dr. Hatta said that he and his party
members had observed government officials working at the
village level to gather population data and understand
natural links among villages in preparation for what Dr.
Hatta believed would be the outlining of coherent electoral
districts for directly-elected seats on the LegCo.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) Since the recreation of the LegCo in 2004, the Sultan
has slowly and cautiously added elements of transparency and
accountability to the legislative process. This year's
budget debate and non-government member question and answer
sessions were a small step further towards a more democratic
practice. Public reaction appeared to be generally
supportive of this top-down, snail-paced reform, although
some politicians like Dr. Hatta would like to see the LegCo
take the next step of considering and passing laws, ending
Brunei's 34-year dependence on "emergency" orders issued by
the Sultan. The Sultan has publicly committed to expanding
the LegCo to include directly-elected members, and there
remains an expectation that this step will be taken at some
point. We can best support this slow process of
democratization by quietly encouraging the Sultan, his
government, and Brunei's people to continue on this path,
albeit at a faster pace.
SKODON