INTERIOR MINISTER PRESENTS HIMSELF WELL IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000623 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, N E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KU SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER PRESENTS HIMSELF WELL IN GRILLING, BUT FACES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE Classified By: A/DCM Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d Jaber al-Khaled Fares Well in Mostly Civil Interpellation -------------- -------------- 1.(C) Interior Minister Shaykh Jaber al-Khaled Al Sabah on Tuesday offered a measured and well laid out defense to accusations leveled against him by tribalist provocateur, Musallam Al-Barrak. Al-Barrak -- who promised during his last campaign to grill the minister -- presented his case to the Assembly on June 23 amid a standing-room only audience of Kuwaitis eager to witness the political drama unfold. MPs and spectators largely adhered to admonitions from the Amir and Speaker Jassem al-Kharafi to be on their best behavior, especially after one onlooker was ejected for applauding action on the floor. Al-Barrak's bombastic and rambling indictment largely focused on his strongest accusation -- that the Minister bears responsibility for a KD 5 million (approx. USD 17.5 million) contract signed to erect billboardsQor candidates in the May 2008 election. He presented a seemingly convincing case that the contract signed by the Minister cost approximately ten times what was paid for similar signs during the 2009 election and that Jaber al-Khaled only took action to rectify the situation after the scandal broke. ¶2. (C) Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan al-Roudhan and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Mohammad Al-Baseeri skillfully used points of order to interrupt Al-Barrak several times when his presentation was gathering momentum, thereby limiting the impact of his emotive speaking style. Al-Barrak was also hampered by his lack of time management and towards the end of his allotted 90 minutes lost focus and strayed off topic -- even playing a video of a 1990 pro-democracy rally only tangentially related to the point he was making. He ended up having to ask the Speaker for five additional minutes. Al-Barrak also accused the Minister of failing to enforce election law by not arresting a Kuwaiti filmed trying to pay candidates to run in the third district and of installing a camera in a park across the street from the Assembly allegdly "to spy" on MPs. (Note: The complaint about enforcement of election law is particularly sensitive because Al-Barrak is a member of the Awazim tribe, whose 2008 primary to select Assembly candidates was broken up by riot police on orders from Jaber al-Khaled. End Note.) 3.(C) The Minister -- a former military officer bolstered by a polished PowerPoint presentation -- was, in contrast to Al-Barrak, calm and collected and had clearly prepared well for the event. He used only 60 of his allotted 90 minutes to methodically refute the accusations and explain his actions. Jaber al-Khaled began his presentation by arguing that the charges were not constitutional, because they concerned events under a previous government. He accused Al-Barrak of holding a personal vendetta against the Minister because of his actions breaking up the tribal primaries. The Minister argued that the advertising contract was signed, despite its unusually high price, because the Ministry was required by law to erect the billboards one day after the campaign began. He dismissed the other accusations as superfluous and argued that anyone wanting to spy on MPs would not install a large camera visible from afar to do so. During his presentation, Al-Roudhan and Al-Baseeri openly and deliberately circulated the chamber seeking the support of a large number of non-tribal MPs. During the prayer intermission prior to the Minister's presentation, DPM Shaykh Ahmad al-Fahd Al Sabah -- who has a large popular and tribal support base -- made a very public show of returning to the chamber early to confer directly with Jaber al-Khaled. A Preordained Outcome? -------------- ¶4. (C) Before taking their podiums, Jaber al-Khaled and Al-Barrak met and shook hands in the front of the Assembly hall. They seemed to be communicating that they both knew what to expect from the session, and that the outcome of this political theater was already decided. Likewise, tQ announcement late in the day that ten Assembly members had signed a motion to call a no-confidence vote on the Minister was not unexpected; a local press reported that a list of MPs who had already decided to pursue the motion was circulating last week. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) Despite the day's somewhat ritualized confrontation, KUWAIT 00000623 002 OF 002 the vote of confidence, which can not occur until at least seven days after the June 23 grilling, is a remarkable and unique development. For the first time we are aware of, it is possible that a sitting Interior Minister who is a member of a ruling family may be forced from office by an Arab legislature, a fact that speaks to the vibrancy of Kuwait's democratic system. His opponents -- who are well versed in criticizing and obstructing decisions the government takes -- face a unique challenge: building and maintaining a majority coalition in the Assembly to take action. In the days before the vote of confidence (now scheduled for July 1),the minister has the option to resign, or the PM could shuffle him to another ministry, thereby rendering today's action moot. The government also has the opportunity to spend the interim lining up support to ensure the no confidence motion does not have the 25 votes it requires. The Amir may hope that permitting the challenge to Jaber al-Khaled assuages disgruntled members of the Assembly by allowing them to feel they have exercised their democratic rights; it also, Q course, opens up a Pandora's box that could lead to future challenges. Comment Continued -------------- ¶6. (C) In the worst case scenario, if the Minister is forced to resign -- or chooses to resign -- the government may be able to blame the Assembly for not cooperating and Ahmad al-Fahd, who is especially close to the Amir, may be able to rise to a more coveted position by replacing Jaber al-Khaled. While the Minister has not publicly threatened to step down, we note that has long expressed frustration with the constraints under which he operates, particularly the lack of political will from the senior leadership. In addition, his wife, to whom he was devoted, passed away recently. For these reasons, he may not be inclined to resist strenuously attempts to remove him. By serving as a focus for the MPs' yen for grilling a senior leader, Shaykh Jaber also also have become a somewhat unlikely lightening rod for efforts that would otherwise have been directed at the PM. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES