Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT1760
2007-12-27 15:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

PARLIAMENTARY CRISIS CONTINUES - ASSEMBLY WILL

pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0344
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #1760/01 3611540
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271540Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0471
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001760 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP AND A/OPR/OS BEA CAMERON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI KISL KWMN KU NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY CRISIS CONTINUES - ASSEMBLY WILL
GRILL EDUCATION MINISTER

REF: A. KUWAIT 1590

B. KUWAIT 1562

Classified By: Charge Alan Minsenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001760

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP AND A/OPR/OS BEA CAMERON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI KISL KWMN KU NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY CRISIS CONTINUES - ASSEMBLY WILL
GRILL EDUCATION MINISTER

REF: A. KUWAIT 1590

B. KUWAIT 1562

Classified By: Charge Alan Minsenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On December 24, Islamist MP Saad Al-Shraye
filed a motion to "grill" Minister of Education (and the only
remaining female minister) Nouriya Al-Sabeeh. The grilling
comes in response to a well-publicized sexual assault at a
Kuwaiti primary school, but is more accurately a reflection
of Parliament's ongoing contentious relationship with the
Government of Kuwait (GOK). Expectations of an impending
Amiri decision to dissolve Parliament are running high, which
the Amir himself has reinforced through his recent comments
and actions. END SUMMARY.


Islamist MP Calls for a Grilling
--------------


2. (U) On December 24, Islamist MP Saad Al-Shraye filed a
motion for the interpellation (i.e. "grilling") of Education
Minister Nouriya Al-Sabeeh (the only remaining female
minister after the August resignation of then-Health Minister
Dr. Masouma Al-Mubarak). In justifying his request,
Al-Shraye cited four points: 1) that Al-Sabeeh deliberately
misled MPs in responding to an incident of sexual assault on
three children at a Kuwaiti primary school; 2) that she
showed favoritism in appointments and dismissals at the
ministry; 3) that she is responsible for a deteriorating
standard of education, and 4) that she failed to rigidly
apply gender segregation in schools throughout Kuwait.
Al-Shraye will grill the Minister on January 8, which may
then lead to a parliamentary no-confidence motion. To pass,
the no-confidence motion would require majority support from
the 48 elected MPs.


3. (C) Saad Al-Shraye is a member of the neo-Islamist group
in Parliament, which is anti-government and has opposed
Al-Sabeeh as Education Minister since her appointment in
March 2007. The neo-Islamists, together with the Islamic
Constitutional Movement (ICM)(i.e. the Kuwaiti Muslim
Brotherhood) and the Salafi Islamic grouping, constitute the

Islamic Bloc in Parliament. (Note: While the ICM and the
Salafis have not yet gone on record as opposing Al-Sabeeh
outright, they are likely to support the grilling and a
no-confidence vote against the Minister. End note.)


Parliament At Odds With The Government
--------------


4. (C) Relations between Kuwait's executive branch and
Parliament have been consistently tense since the current
Amir, Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah, came to power in
January 2006. Parliamentarians have kept the GOK on the
defensive with accusations of corruption and mismanagement,
and the GOK's efforts to recapture the initiative have been
ineffective. This impasse has produced a series of
grillings, both threatened and actual, against government
ministers. As a result, five ministers have resigned or been
forced out since January 2007.


Ulterior Motives Abound
--------------


5. (C) A more likely reason for the Minister's grilling,
however, is discontent among Islamists over how Al-Sabeeh is
running her ministry, which has traditionally been an
Islamist stronghold. Al-Sabeeh is an able administrator who
worked her way through the ranks of the Education Ministry.
She has taken several steps to improve efficiency and
accountability there, including removing Islamist cronies,
enhancing transparency in university appointments and
refusing to dispense special favors on the basis of "wasta."
Her actions have enraged the Islamists, who are at the
vanguard of parliamentary opposition to her. In addition,
the fact that she is a woman, a liberal and that she refuses
to wear a head scarf does not sit well with Kuwaiti
conservatives in general.


6. (C) In a conversation with Poloff on December 5, the
Director of Political Relations for the Islamic
Constitutional Movement (ICM),Mohammed Al-Dallal, said that
his party is unhappy with Al-Sabeeh's centralization of power
and appointment of "weak" underlings to implement her
program. Apparently Al-Sabeeh has not shared the outline of
her reform program with the ICM, despite their repeated
requests. He asserted that the ICM attempted to resolve this

KUWAIT 00001760 002 OF 003


impasse discretely by approaching both Al-Sabeeh and the
Prime Minister on separate occasions, but to no avail.
Al-Dallal accused Al-Sabeeh of being a technocrat who lacks
political acumen, and he expressed frustration with the Prime
Minister's lack of leadership in general.


7. (C) Liberal MPs such as Mohammed Al-Saqar believe that
some parliamentarians are attempting to provoke the Amir into
dissolving the National Assembly. Their strategy is
continued confrontation with the GOK, an assault on ministers
and a general unwillingness to pass critical legislation, so
the theory goes. They gamble that the Amir will dissolve
Parliament constitutionally, meaning that he must call for
new elections within 60 days. This would provide them with
an opportunity to make further electoral gains. This gamble
would fail, however, if the Amir opted for an
unconstitutional dissolution. Under this scenario, the Amir
would suspend Parliament for some longer period while he
enacted long-pending legislation and amended the constitution
to limit Parliamentary prerogatives.


Gender Segregation
--------------


8. (U) The complete gender segregation of all schools in
Kuwait, both public and private, has been a particular point
of emphasis among the Islamist MPs recently. Al-Shraye has
accused the minister of "undermining the values and morals of
society" by not rigidly enforcing this segregation.
Islamists have highlighted the undesirable intermingling of
the sexes at school functions and parties, to include at
least one incident of a co-ed swimming competition that the
Islamists found particularly irksome. (Note: The Islamists'
gender segregation requirement would also apply to expatriate
schools attended by embassy children. The National
Assembly's Education Committee is currently reviewing draft
legislation to legally require such segregation in all
schools, although it appears unlikely to be brought to a vote
anytime soon. End note.)


The Amir is "Fed Up"
--------------


9. (C) Expectations of an Amiri decision to dissolve
Parliament have waxed and waned repeatedly over recent
months, and are now high and rising. On December 17,
Mohammed Al-Dallal told Poloff that the Amir is "fed up" with
the political climate in the country. He noted that while
this particular grilling is the most recent symptom of a
general political malaise, Parliament's consistently
combative nature and its unwillingness to do more than
constituent pandering had finally convinced the Amir to
dissolve the National Assembly. Al-Dallal speculated that
the Amir would dissolve Parliament constitutionally.


10. (C) According to the UK Ambassador, the Amir was
unusually forthright in discussing domestic politics with ME
envoy Tony Blair earlier this month. The Amir reportedly
took the initiative to list Parliament's deficiencies and lay
out the constitutional basis for dissolution, telling Blair:
"Don't be surprised if I do it."


11. (C) On December 16 Poloff met with Ali Al-Baghli, a
former MP and Oil Minister whom the GOK consults on political
issues. Al-Baghli said that the Amir recently met with a
group of former ministers regarding parliamentary relations,
and they unanimously advised him to dissolve Parliament. He
said the Amir was "playing it cool" and waiting for public
sentiment to completely turn against Parliament prior to
dissolving it. Al-Baghli cautioned that the results of a new
parliamentary election would be uncertain given recent
electoral redistricting. He noted, however, that the
conservative Salafis and Muslim Brotherhood were more
organized than the liberals, and that Kuwaitis were basically
conservative by nature; hinting at potential Islamist
electoral gains.


Comment
--------------


12. (C) Both Islamist MPs and the Amir are likely mindful of
the impending POTUS visit as they consider next steps. While
the Amir would certainly prefer not to dissolve Parliament on
the eve of the visit, Islamists may hope to force his hand so
as to portray themselves as "victims" of both the government
and the Americans. We expect the GOK to seek a period of
quiet to cover the first half of January; but the Amir may

KUWAIT 00001760 003 OF 003


find that dissolving Parliament is the only way to get even a
two-week respite from harsh accusations and grilling demands
aimed at his beleaguered ministers. END COMMENT.

********************************************* *
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/
********************************************* *
MISENHEIMER