Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT479
2007-04-04 11:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

FREEDOM AGENDA: KUWAITI ACADEMICS SHARE VIEWS ON

Tags:  PGOV KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA 
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VZCZCXRO4243
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0479/01 0941126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041126Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8678
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000479 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: KUWAITI ACADEMICS SHARE VIEWS ON
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT IN KUWAIT

Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000479

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: KUWAITI ACADEMICS SHARE VIEWS ON
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT IN KUWAIT

Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution.


1. (SBU) Summary: Kuwaiti academics shared their views on
democratic development in Kuwait with visiting American
professor Dr. Michael Herb during an April 2 reception.
Overall, they were cynical about Herb's argument that Kuwait
was in the process of transitioning from a monarchy to a
parliamentary democracy. The academics highlighted a number
of obstacles to democratization in Kuwait, including oil,
tribalism, religion, and lack of government accountability.
However, while disagreeing on the surface with Herb's
argument, they seemed to implicitly accept his two principle
points: 1) that Kuwait's political system is unique in the
region and 2) that it is in the process, however imperfect,
of becoming more representative of and responsible to the
Kuwaiti people. End summary.


2. (SBU) PolChief hosted a reception April 2 during which a
number of Kuwaiti academics engaged in an impassioned
exchange on the prospects of democratic development in Kuwait
with visiting American professor Dr. Michael Herb, an expert
on comparative politics and Kuwait's political system. Herb
argued that Kuwaiti politics were unique in the region and
there was a possibility for a peaceful transition from
absolute monarchy to real democracy, a process he believed
Kuwait had already begun. The Kuwaiti academics, ranging
from liberal to Islamist, expressed varying degrees of
cynicism about this analysis. Dr. Abdullah Al-Shayji, the
Chairman of the American Studies Department at Kuwait
University, argued that democratic change in Kuwait required
amending the Constitution to allow for more elected
parliamentarians and, consequently, more appointed ministers
and to institute a system of taxation. "In Kuwait, we have
'Representation without Taxation'," he said, which meant that
the government was not accountable to the people. In his
view, this prevented meaningful democratic change.


3. (SBU) Dr. Shamlan Al-Issa, the Director of the Center for
Strategic and Future Studies at Kuwait University and a
staunch liberal, said the majority of the political groups in
Kuwait were not truly committed to secular, democratic
governance. He said until this changed, he "(did) not trust
the people" to govern the country. Al-Issa claimed oil was
the ultimate source of the ruling family's political
legitimacy and predicted that as long as the price of oil
remained above $60 per barrel Kuwait would not make the
transition to a more democratic government. Dr. Ayed
Al-Manna, a liberal professor at Arab Open University,
expressed a similar opinion, arguing that until
religiously-oriented political groups accepted the principles
of secularism and pluralism democracy could not flourish in
the country. Ahmed Sarraf, a prominent liberal columnist,
agreed. According to him, there were three obstacles to
democratic development in Kuwait: oil, lack of planning, and
religion.


4. (SBU) Dr. Abdul Reda Assiri, the liberal Chairman of the
Political Science Department at Kuwait University, argued
that the ruling family ensured Kuwait's stability and served
as a valuable arbitrator between domestic groups with
divergent interests. Ultimately, he said, Kuwaitis valued
the ruling family's political leadership and did not want to
see a system in which they were completely marginalized. As
evidence, Assiri noted that Kuwaitis had had the chance to
press for a different system of government after the
liberation of Kuwait in 1991, but chose to stick with the
Al-Sabah leadership.


5. (SBU) Dr. Mohammed Al-Moqataei, a professor of
Constitutional Law at Kuwait University and an Islamist,
agreed with Herb that Kuwait's constitution was unique in the
region and could conceivably allow for a transition to a more
democratic form of government without being amended. The
provisions of the constitution just need to be enforced, he
argued. Al-Moqataei responded to the liberal academics'
criticism of Islamist groups' commitment to democracy by
stressing that liberals also needed to accept the principle
they always accused Islamist groups of rejecting: pluralism.
For democracy to succeed in Kuwait, every political group,
regardless of its ideological leanings, must accept the
constitution as its ultimate guide and adhere to its
provisions, he said. Like the other academics, though,
Al-Moqataei did not believe the Prime Minister's recent
consultations with political blocs prior to forming the new
Cabinet represented a significant change in the Kuwaiti
leadership's approach towards Parliament, as argued by Herb.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:

KUWAIT 00000479 002 OF 002


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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