GOVERNMENT REMOVES CONTROVERSIAL MINISTERS IN NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001562

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2027
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM KU NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REMOVES CONTROVERSIAL MINISTERS IN NEW
CABINET LINEUP

REF: KUWAIT 882

Classified By: CDA Alan Misenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) On October 28, the Kuwaiti Government announced the
formation of a new 16-person cabinet. The new ministers took
the oath of office before the Amir earlier the same day and
assumed their new positions immediately. Seven ministers,
including FM Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al Sabah and Prime Minister
Shaykh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, were retained with no change
in their portfolios. Five ministers from the previous
cabinet were retained but have new portfolios. Four
individuals not in the previous cabinet were brought in
(though one had been a minister previously) while one
minister from the previous cabinet was dropped altogether.
The one female minister remaining in the cabinet -- the
Minister of Education, who was the First Lady's host during
her October 24-25 visit to Kuwait -- retained her position,
and the number of Shi'as returned to two after one of the
Shi'a ministers resigned in August. The Kuwaiti Muslim
Brotherhood (KMB) retained the Electricity and Water
portfolio after KMB member Mohammad Al-Elaim led a successful
energy conservation campaign this past summer. Three
ministers have Islamist leanings, four ministers are
considered liberals, five ministers are royal family members,
three are considered to have tribal allegiances, and roughly
six are considered technocrats. (Note: some ministers can be
classified in more than one category. End note.)


2. (C) This is the fourth cabinet formation since the Amir
formally took over leadership of the country in January 2006.
The changes are an attempt on the Amir's part to end the
political gridlock in the country resulting from the hostile
and dysfunctional state of relations between the Government
and the parliament. While some key portfolios for the USG
have changed, such as Social Affairs and Labor (key player on
TIP) and Finance, we do not foresee any changes in Kuwait
foreign policy.

Why Now?
--------------


3. (C) This major cabinet shuffle comes in the wake of
growing threats from opposition MPs to formally question
("grill") several ministers. A series of grillings during
the 2006-2007 parliamentary session occupied the legislature
and Government's time as important national legislation
languished. Prospective grillings have led to rampant rumors
of the Amir dissolving Parliament for the second year in a
row. The Government has consistently moved to appease,
rather than engage, the grillers. The Awqaf (Religious
Endowments) and Islamic Affairs Minister faced the most
serious grilling threat and was excluded from the cabinet. A
formal grilling threat had already been filed against the
Finance Minister, who was rotated to the Oil Ministry.
(Note: It is unclear how much this will remove him from
parliament's crosshairs. End Note.) The Interior Minister
(previously dual-hatted as Defense Minister) faced less
serious prospects of grilling, but was stripped of the
Interior Ministry portfolio, leaving the Education Minister
as the only remaining cabinet member who has been the subject
of concrete grilling threats.


4. (C) Some observers have commented that the basic cast of
characters is the same, and the contentious relationship
between the Government and parliament will continue
unchanged. Others see the reshuffle as a clear defeat for
the Government, which has again proven its inability to stand
up to MPs who wish to challenge the Government. The threat
to grill Finance Minister Bader Al-Humaidhi, for instance,
was frivolous, but the Government chose to rotate him to
another ministry rather than stand by him. On the other
hand, Government supporters argue that grillings were a
distraction, and that the new line-up will allow the
parliament to tackle administrative, political and economic
reform rather than continuing their political squabbles. If
previous experience is a guide, however, the Government is
not out of trouble yet. After the last grilling-induced
cabinet shake-up in March 2007, lawmakers across the spectrum
pledged to focus on legislation rather than grillings. Just
six weeks later, however, the Oil Minister made a
controversial remark in a newspaper interview and the rest of
the parliamentary term was taken up almost entirely by his
grilling. It will take uncharacteristically strong
leadership on the part of Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser
Mohammad Al-Sabah to force MPs to address serious reform
issues rather than finding other ways of needling the
Government. Shaykh Nasser has not shown strong leadership
thus far.


KUWAIT 00001562 002 OF 003


The Cabinet Lineup
--------------


5. (C)
-- Shaykh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Defense. Shaykh Jaber retains the
Defense portfolio but gives up the Interior Ministry. There
had been murmurs of grilling him in his capacity of Minister
of the Interior.

-- Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. No change.

-- Faisal Mohammad Al-Hajji Bukhudhur, Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister for Cabinet Affairs. No change.

-- Bader Mishari Al-Humaidhi, Minister of Oil. Al-Humaidhi
had been the Minister of Finance. Tribal Islamist MP
Dhayfallah Buramya had threatened to grill Al-Humaidhi,
largely because Al-Humaidhi had led the effort to defeat
Buramya's effort to write off all Kuwaitis' personal debts.
Buramya may still insist on grilling Al-Humaidhi even though
his new portfolio has nothing to do with the debt issue.
Al-Humaidhi brings some oil experience to the job. While he
was competent at the Finance Ministry he was not especially
proactive in promoting reform. Given his past and his
relationship with Parliament, he is not likely to be an agent
for reform in the Oil Ministry.

-- Shaykh Jaber Al-Khalid Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister of
Interior. Shaykh Jaber is a first-time minister. A graduate
of Sandhurst, he is a former Army Chief of Staff and
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

-- Jamal Ahmad Al-Shihab, Minister of Social Affairs and
Labor and Minister of Justice. Al-Shihab is an accomplished
lawyer with a history of government service in the Justice,
Social Affairs and Labor, and Planning Ministries. He is
considered to be a moderate Islamist.

-- Shaykh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of
Information. Shaykh Sabah Al-Khalid was rotated from the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. The Ministry of
Information is a traditionally controversial post and the
Government may be looking to shore up its stability by
assigning a strong royal family member to the position.

-- Abdullah Saud Al-Muhailbi, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic
Affairs and Ministry of Communication. The Salafis fiercely
attacked the previous Awqaf Minister. Appointing a
representative of one of Kuwait's largest tribes may be an
effort to make this ministry less susceptible to grilling
threats. Al-Muhailbi is a career bureaucrat with no
particular professional expertise in either of his
portfolios. The government may have been looking for someone
who was not a party to the competition between the Muslim
Brotherhood and the Salafis over the Islamic agenda in Kuwait.

-- Abdullah Abdalrahman Al-Taweel, Minister of Health.
Al-Taweel, a liberal, was Minister of Commerce from 2003 -

2006.

-- Abdulwahid Mahmud Al-Awadhi, Minister of Housing Affairs
and Minister of National Assembly Affairs. Al-Awadhi had the
Housing portfolio and has been acting National Assembly
Affairs Minister since the incumbent resigned in June.

-- Falah Al-Hajiri, Minister of Commerce and Industry. No
change.

-- Mohammad Abdullah Al-Elaim, Minister of Electricity and
Water. No change. Al-Elaim is the only minister from the
Muslim Brotherhood.

-- Mustafa Jassim Al-Shimmali, Minister of Finance.
First-time minister and former U/S of Finance. Shi'a.

-- Moussa Hussein Al-Sarraf, Minister of Public Works and
Minister of State for Municipality Affairs. No change.
Shi'a.

-- Nouriya Al-Sabih, Minister of Education and Minister of
Higher Education. No change. A liberal, she remains the
only female cabinet member.

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

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:

KUWAIT 00001562 003 OF 003


http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
********************************************* *
MISENHEIMER