AMIR PLEADS FOR NATIONAL UNITY AS HE INTRODUCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000550

SIPDIS

NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KWMN KU
SUBJECT: AMIR PLEADS FOR NATIONAL UNITY AS HE INTRODUCES
NEW CABINET

REF: A. 2008 KUWAIT 621

B. KUWAIT 518

C. KUWAIT 516

D. 2008 KUWAIT 633

Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and
d

Summary
--------------

1. (C) Kuwaiti Amir Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al Sabah
on May 30 swore in sixteen new and returning ministers,
introducing them to recently elected parliamentarians at the
National Assembly's convening on May 31. This latest
iteration of the government represents the 27th cabinet since
Kuwaiti independence, and PM Shaykh Nasser al-Muhammed
al-Ahmad Al Sabah's sixth since his rise to the premiership
in 2006. It also reflects the PM's preferred method of
including as many political factions in the government as
possible. The new faces did not deter some public discontent
voiced in the local press that key posts -- notably those of
PM, Interior, and Defense -- were left unchanged. The number
(six) of Al Sabah in the cabinet remained the same, but the
Amir's nephew and ruling family insider, Shaykh Ahmad al-Fahd
al-Ahmad Al Sabah, replaced former Minister of Information
Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad Al Sabah in the lineup. Other
notable changes include the departure of female Education
Minister Nouriya Al-Sabeeh, inclusion of Dr. Helal Al-Sayer
as a technocrat Minister of Health, and the unopposed return
of Jassem al-Khorafi as Speaker. A full cabinet lineup and
bio information is provided para 7.


2. (C) Islamists, still reeling from their May 16
parliamentary elections losses, demonstrated their continued
intransigence at the convening of the Assembly by staging a
walkout to object to the new cabinet lineup and the presence
of women not "properly attired" with the traditional Islamic
hijab. They were joined by members of the Rashid tribe
protesting their lack of inclusion in the cabinet. End
summary.

Amir Pleads for Unity
--------------


3. (C) Highlighting long-standing frustration with Kuwait's
political gridlock, the Amir in his May 30 State address to
the new National Assembly, reiterated calls for national
unity and urged the turning of "a new page to build the
nation." Reading from a prepared script, he declared that the
country had reached a level of "critical exhaustion" and
appealed for the new legislators to look past sectarian and
tribal issues to resolve ongoing disputes. Focusing on the
themes of tolerance and action to counter chaos and
bickering, the Amir urged commitment to democracy as the
"tool that further instills the essence of nationalism." He
also promised to personally monitor the performance of both
the parliament and government, and warned that this might be
the Assembly's last chance to perform.

PM Attempts to Appease Tribes
--------------


4. (C) Though the May 16 elections provided a victory for
liberals and moderates, and arguably a mandate for the Al
Sabah to reform the political system, the PM is fully aware
that even one determined MP can effectively derail governance
through interpellation ("grilling") motions. Accordingly, the
PM carefully crafted his cabinet to forestall challenges from
disaffected MPs -- something he has failed to do five
previous times, most recently in the May 2008 reshuffle (ref
A). In the run-up to the May 31 convening of the National
Assembly, the PM reportedly reached out to tribal elements to
secure tribal leaders who could keep their MP kinsmen in
check. The new cabinet includes representatives from three
major tribes -- the Awazim, Mutayr, and Ajman -- but lacks a
member from the powerful Rashidi tribe. Mubarak al-Duwaileh,
an Islamist strategist associated with the Islamic
Constitutional Movement (ICM) told poloff May 27 that tribes
and Islamists initially rebuffed the PM's overtures to join
his government. The ensuing bartering between the PM and
Islamist elements resulted -- at the last minute -- in a
thinly veiled agreement by some tribalists to join the
government as "independents" rather than as representatives
of blocs.

Islamists Confirm Opposition Role
--------------


5. (C) Undaunted by the unprecedented victories of four

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female parliamentary candidates and their own losses in the
May 16 elections (ref B),the Islamists are seeking to
re-engage as spoilers in the political arena. Fourteen
Islamist and tribal MPs (out of 50 total elected members of
the Assembly) declared their displeasure with the government
by walking out during the May 31 roll call of the new
parliamentarians. Though their grievances largely targeted
the presence of three women who do not wear the hijab (MP Dr.
Rola Dashti, MP Dr. Aseel al-Awadhi, and newly appointed
Education Minister Dr. Moudhi Al-Homoud),their gesture also
reflected the unhappiness with the makeup of the new cabinet.
Four MPs from the Rashidi tribe (Saad Khanfour, Shuwayb
al-Muwayizri, Mubarak al-Khrainej, and Mubarak al-Waalan),
for example, walked out to protest the tribe's absence from
the new government. Islamist Dr. Walid al-Tabtabaei -- a
long-time opponent of the government who joined the May 31
walk-out -- speculated to the press in interviews prior to
the convening of parliament that the new cabinet would not
last more than six months.

Composition of the New Cabinet
--------------


6. (U) No Change to Portfolios:

-- Prime Minister Nasser al-Muhammad al-Ahmad Al Sabah was
born in 1940. He received a General Education Certificate in
the UK in 1959 and a High-Degree diploma in French Language
in 1960. He began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) in 1964. He became third secretary at the MFA and
joined the Kuwaiti UN delegation in October of that year. In
1965 Nasser al-Muhammad became Kuwait's permanent
representative at the UN in Geneva. He was named consul
general to Switzerland in 1967. He next served as Ambassador
to Iran from 1968 until 1979 when he was appointed an
undersecretary in the Ministry of Information. In 1985 he
became Minister of Information, a post he held until 1988. He
then served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs until
1990 when in June he became Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs. In 1998 Nasser al-Muhammad was appointed Minister of
the Amiri Diwan, a post he held until being named Prime
Minister on 7 February 2006. (Ruling Family)

-- First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Jaber
al-Mubarak al-Hamad Al Sabah was born in 1948. In the past he
served as governor of the Ahmadi and Hawalli governorates and
as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Minister of
Information, and as an adviser to the former Amir Jabir's
diwan. Jaber al-Mubarak was appointed Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Defense on 14 February 2001. He was promoted
to First Deputy Prime Minister in October 2007 and was
re-appointed in May 0f 2007 and January of this year. (Ruling
Family)

-- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr.
Mohammad al-Sabah al-Salem Al Sabah was born in 1955. He
earned a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College and a
PhD in Economics from Harvard University. He taught in the
Faculty of Commerce and Economy, and political science
courses at Kuwait University from 1979-1985. During that time
he served as chair of the economic department for two years.
He taught at the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research from
1987-1988. In 1993 he was appointed Ambassador to Washington.
On 14 February 2001 he became Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs and was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs and
acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in 2003. In
February 2006 Dr. Mohammad became Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs and has been re-appointed in the
subsequent governments. (Ruling Family)

-- Minister of Interior Major General Jaber al-Khaled
al-Jaber Al Sabah was born in 1944. He graduated from the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and took part in several
military courses in the UK and US including at the US Army
Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth. He was appointed Chief of
Staff of the Kuwaiti Army in 1992. Jaber al-Khalid served as
Ambassador to Riyadh beginning in 2001. He has been Minister
of Interior since 2007. (Ruling Family)

-- Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for
Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhel Safar Ali Safar was born in 1955
and formerly was a manager at the Kuwait Oil Company. Safar
was elected to the Municipal Council in 2005 and appointed
Minister of Labor and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs
in May 2008 and January 2009. (Liberal, Independent Shi'a,
affiliated with Shiite National Islamic Alliance)

-- Minister of Finance Mustafa Jassem al-Shamali was born in

1943. He earned a bachelor's in Commerce and Administrative

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Studies from Ain Shams University. He began his career in the
Ministry of Finance in 1968 and held several important
positions and was appointed Minister of Finance in October
2007 and re-appointed in successive governments. (Liberal,
Independent Shi'a)

New Ministers/Portfolios:

-- Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of
State for Development Affairs and Minister of State for
Housing Affairs Ahmad al-Fahd al-Jaber Al Sabah was born in
1963 and holds a BA in economics and political science from
Kuwait University. He was President of the Kuwait Olympic
Committee from 1990-2001; in 2001 he was elected to the
International Olympic Committee. He is also president of the
Olympic Council of Asia. In February 2001 Ahmad al-Fahd was
appointed Minister of Information and was acting Minister of
Oil in 2003. He became Minister of Energy July 14, 2003 (but
resigned in March 2006from this position amid allegations of
corruption). On 15 September, 2004, he was selected to serve
as the Chairman of the OPEC Ministerial Conference. Ahmad
al-Fahd served as Minister of Energy and acting Minister of
Health from 15 April 2005 until his appointment as Director
of the National Security Bureau in July 2006. (Ruling Family)

-- Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs, Minister of
Justice, and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs justice
Rashid Abd al-Muhsin al-Hammad began his career in the
Sentencing Enforcement Department at the Ministry of Justice
after he graduated from Al Azhar University in 1963. He
became a judge in 1967. Abd al-Muhsin was appointed Supreme
Judge of the court of appeals after liberation in 1991. He
was promoted to Deputy Chief of the court of Cassation (the
Kuwaiti equivalent of the Supreme Court) on 15 July, 2002.
(Conservative, Pro-Government)

-- Minister of Commerce and Industry Ahmad Rashed al-Haroun
was a secretary for the financial committee of the National
Assembly and as deputy chief of the Public Authority for
Social Security. He has been chair of the Kuwaiti Chamber of
Commerce and Industry since 1994. He hails from a well known
middle-class family. One of his brothers, Abd al-Wahab, is a
former MP and former chairman of the Kuwait Public Transport
Company. Another brother, Musaid, is Kuwait's Ambassador to
Canada and former Minister of Education and Higher Education.
A third brother, Abd al-Rahman is a lawyer. (Independent)

-- Minister of Oil and Information Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Ahmed
Al Sabah was born in 1952. He graduated from the University
of Illinois in 1976, majoring in Bank Funding and Finance. He
then worked at the Kuwait's Finance Center until 1978 when he
transferred to the Central Bank. In 1987 Ahmad al-Abdallah
was the chairman of the board of Burgan Bank from 1987-1998.
In July 1999 he was appointed Minister of Finance and
Minister of Communications. In February 2001 he was appointed
Minister of Communications and in 2003 added the Minister of
Planning and Minister of State for Administrative Affairs
portfolios. Ahmad al-Abdallah was appointed Minister of
Communications and Minister of Health in June of 2005. (He
was grilled and forced to resign in March of 2007). He was
first appointed Minister of Oil in January. (Ruling Family)

-- Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan Abd al-Aziz
al-Roudhan was born in 1965. He earned a diploma from the
Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. He was
deputy chief of the Municipal Council from 1999-2001 and head
of the council 2001-03. Al-Roudhan was elected to the
Assembly in 2008 and 2009. He was Minister of Health in the
January 2009 government. (Independent, Pro-Government)

-- Minister of Communications and Minister of State for
National Assembly Affairs Dr. Mohammad Mohsen al-Baseeri was
born in 1955 and has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He was
elected to the Assembly in 1999, 2003, and 2006. He was
Deputy Speaker of the Assembly in 2009. (Independent,
ICM-affiliated)

-- Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Higher
Education Dr. Moudhi Abd al-Aziz al-Humoud earned a
Bachelor's degree and a Master's in Business Administration
in 1973 and 1976 from the University of North Texas. She also
holds a PhD from the University of London. A former professor
at Kuwait University, she was Minister of Housing and
Minister of State for Development Affairs in May 2008 and
January 2009. (Liberal, National Democratic
Alliance-affiliated, sole female minister)

-- Minister of Electricity and Water Dr. Bader Shabab
al-Shuraiaan al-Azmi holds a Bachelor's in mechanical

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engineering from Kuwait University and earned a master's
degree and PhD in 1999 and 2003 in engineering from Ohio
University. (Independent, Pro-Government)

-- Minister of Health Dr. Hilal Musaed al-Sayer was formerly
President of the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children
in Hospital (KACCH),and formerly dean of the Kuwait
University Medical School. He has also held many positions
in the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society and other humanitarian
institutions. His daughter is married to FM Shaykh Dr.
Mohammed al-Sabah al-Salem Al Sabah's son. (Liberal,
Independent)

-- Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Mohammad Mohsen
al-Afasi attained his Law PhD in Lebanon and formerly held
the rank of Major General in the Defense Ministry.
(Conservative, Pro-Government)

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