MP GRILLS PM IN CLOSED SESSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001147 SIPDIS NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KU SUBJECT: MP GRILLS PM IN CLOSED SESSION REF: A. KUWAIT 1055 ¶B. KUWAIT 1092 Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d PM Vs. MP -------------- ¶1. (C) In a historical first that settles months of doubts about whether he would face his detractors, Kuwaiti PM Shaykh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al Sabah submitted on December 8 to an interpellation posed by Dr. Faisal Al-Mislim, an opposition tribalist MP. Also included in the grilling by other tribalist MPs in subsequent order were Interior Minister Shaykh Jaber Al-Khalid Al-Jaber Al Sabah, Public Works Minister Fadhel Safer Ali Safer, and Defense Minister Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al Sabah. "We are Ready." -------------- ¶2. (C) Prior to the grillings, Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi queried each of ministers individually on their readiness to begin deliberations; Shaykh Nasser, without hesitation and with a resolve rarely witnessed publicly, stood and replied, "We are ready." Once the other ministers followed suit, however, Information Minister (and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs) Mohammed Al-Busayri immediately -- and presumably on cue -- moved to conduct the interpellations in a closed session. Al-Khorafi's subsequent expulsion of spectators (including Emboffs) from the packed parliamentary hall sparked loud protests from the PM's detractors, which were met by equally loud recriminations from his supporters. Vote of Non-Cooperation? -------------- ¶3. (C) According to Kuwait's Constitution, the PM, having no specified portfolio, is not subject to questions of confidence in his ability to lead, but a demand by ten or more MPs requires that he be subject to a vote of non-cooperation. (Note: Initial reports from interlocutors inside the closed session indicate that tribalists and Islamists siding with Al-Mislim, having been robbed of their chance to publicly question the PM, may have succeeded in pulling together the requisite ten votes to put the non-cooperation motion on the table. End note). While the pro-government majority in the parliament should assure that such a vote, if held, would fail handily, the overheated political atmosphere (which some savvy observers believe it is being stoked behind the scenes by Al Sabah rivals to the PM, perhaps to include the Amir's eldest son Shaykh Nasser Al Sabah) makes it difficult to characterize this as an absolute certainty. The Parliament will act on the motion a week after it is tabled. In the event that a vote of non-cooperation should pass (a simple majority of the 50 MPs is all that is required),the Amir would likely be left with two choices: remove his nephew Shaykh Nasser -- an action the Amir has shown no inclination to pursue in his six governments since 2006 -- or dissolve parliament. Background -------------- ¶4. (C) Dr. Faisal Al-Mislim, whose previous attacks contributed to a March 17 parliamentary dissolution, filed the motion to "grill" the PM on November 4 (ref A) over allegations of the misuse of public funds and deception over checks issued by the PM to former MPs. On December 7, in a move initially thought by PM supporters to strengthen the government's case, former MP Nasser Al-Duwayleh publicly acknowledged in television interviews that the PM had issued him a check for KD 200,000 from a personal account for legal services associated with a law office in the UAE. Al-Duwayleh, a conservative tribalist, asserted the legitimacy of the project pointing out that he never deposited the check into his personal account, and lambasted fellow tribalist Al-Mislim for not consulting him over the matter before going public. ¶5. (U) Septel will provide further updates to the grilling drama. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it KUWAIT 00001147 002 OF 002 ********************************************* ********* JONES