CABINET AFFAIRS MINISTER ON LEGISLATIVE AGENDA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000732

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP; S/CT; EB; DOE FOR WILLIAMSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV KU
SUBJECT: CABINET AFFAIRS MINISTER ON LEGISLATIVE AGENDA,
SECURITY ISSUES


Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Minister for Cabinet Affairs Faisal
Al-Hajji told Ambassador May 9 that while the Parliament had
been moderately effective over the past weeks, budget
negotiations would likely dominate the agenda between now and
the summer recess making it unlikely that there will be
significant progress on key economic reform legislation. A
recently-formed cabinet committee for dealing with security
contingencies is designed to "show Parliament we have a plan"
for dealing with a new regional conflict. Al-Hajji agreed
that follow up on the Critical Energy Infrastructure
Protection (CEIP) assessment might be best handled through a
coordinating body reporting to the Council of Ministers. End
Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador met May 9 for a courtesy call with new
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet
Affairs Faisal Al-Hajji. Ambassador congratulated Al-Hajji
on his senior-level cabinet appointment. Al-Hajji noted the
broad portfolio he was tasked with, including a variety of
key issues that cut across ministerial portfolios,
supervision of a number of small agencies, and heading a
cabinet committee dedicated to improving the government's
communications with Parliament.


3. (C) Al-Hajji said he is pleased with the pace of work in
the new Parliament, which pushed forward several pieces of
legislation as well as a number of treaties and international
agreements that had been languishing in some cases for years.
Asked about the larger pieces of economic reform legislation
that many observers think should top the legislative agenda,
Al-Hajji said he is hopeful that there will be some
preliminary work done before the summer recess, but budget
negotiations will likely dominate Parliament's attention over
the next few weeks.


4. (C) Al-Hajji said the recently-announced cabinet
committee formed to deal with a possible regional conflict is
designed to "show Parliament we have a plan" on dealing with
security, food, water, and other issues. He noted the
committee would be meeting with the Parliament's Foreign
Affairs Committee May 9 to discuss these issues. Ambassador
noted the good cooperation between the GOK and a recent
visiting U.S. Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection
(CEIP) assessment team. Ambassador asked for Al-Hajji's view
on working with the Security Decision Follow-Up Committee
(which reports directly to the Council of Ministers) on
implementation of the team's recommendations. Al-Hajji
agreed that this makes sense.


5. (C) On Iraq, Al-Hajji said the U.S. faces a difficult
situation. He said it is "very painful" for Kuwaitis to see
the losses suffered by American forces there, and added that
while we may not hear it all the time, the U.S. should know
that the vast majority of Kuwaitis support us in what we are
doing.


6. (U) Bio Note: Al-Hajji has three children who have
attended Washington D.C. universities. A son graduated from
Catholic University, a daughter graduated from George
Washington, and now works for the Kuwait Investment
Authority, and his youngest daughter is currently studying
for her master's degree in international relations at
Georgetown.

********************************************* *
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/
********************************************* *

LeBaron