VZCZCXRO1029
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #2150/01 1581747
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 071747Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4999
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 002150 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM BLOSSOMS IN 
KUWAIT'S ORANGE MOVEMENT 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1744 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 1642 
 
Classified By: CDA Matt Tueller for reason 1.4 (d) 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Summary and comment: Perhaps the most remarkable 
aspect of Kuwait's recent "orange revolution" is the role 
played by the ad hoc coalition of pro-reform youth 
organizations known as the "orange movement."  These youth 
organizations, which include both liberals and Islamists and 
were not previously united, coalesced spontaneously around 
the issue of electoral reform.  Though they operated 
independently, these diverse groups coordinated with each 
other through pro-reform websites/blogs and SMS and succeeded 
in generating a groundswell of popular support for electoral 
reform, ultimately driving members of Parliament's insistence 
on five constituencies.  It remains to be seen if these 
diverse groups can translate their successful pro-reform, 
anti-corruption campaign to the June 29 parliamentary 
elections without the movement splitting over the groups' 
support for different candidates.  Many of those involved in 
the orange movement are already lobbying candidates to adopt 
political reform as their central campaign issue and are 
targeting corrupt candidates.  According to one activist, 
their ultimate goal is to see a less corrupt, more 
reform-minded Parliament elected.  Although this pro-reform 
youth movement is just one of many interest groups lobbying 
candidates to support their vision of Kuwait's future, its 
members have demonstrated the potential for grassroots 
political activism in Kuwait, and contributed instrumentally 
to a growing awareness of corruption and interest in 
political reform among the broader Kuwaiti public.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
Peeling the Orange Movement 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) The "orange movement" is a loose coalition of 
diverse pro-reform youth organizations and individuals that 
have united in support of a common goal: reducing the number 
of electoral constituencies from 25 to five in order to 
combat corruption in Kuwait.  These groups span Kuwait's 
political spectrum, including both liberals and Islamists, 
though they are not supported directly by any of Kuwait's 
main political blocs.  (Comment: The majority of these 
organizations are not officially recognized NGOs, of which 
there are only 76 in Kuwait; rather, they are informal 
organizations grouping like-minded persons/friends who 
support a particular cause or issue.  End comment.)  The 
movement came together spontaneously, sparked by pro-reform 
blogs and websites and organized through SMS.  Since the 
movement relied primarily on electronic communication, many 
of those supporting the movement still do not know who 
organized the rallies or which other groups/individuals were 
involved.  Though they cooperated in a loose sense, each 
organization operated independently, printing its own 
materials and rallying its own supporters.  As momentum grew, 
more and more people attended the rallies and/or read the 
pro-reform websites, contributing to greater public awareness 
of the issue and increased pressure on the Government and 
Parliament to implement electoral reform legislation.  With 
Parliament dissolved, the challenge for these organizations 
will be maintaining momentum and cohesion in their 
pro-reform, anti-corruption campaign. 
 
Orange for Reform 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) According to Dana Al-Salem, a liberal Kuwaiti in 
her late-twenties, the orange movement started in mid-April 
when three liberal youth organizations - the Kuwait Youth 
Organization, Vote 2007, and Student Strength (Quwa 
Al-Tulabiya) - organized a meeting of 39 local youth 
organizations to support electoral reform as a means of 
reducing political corruption in Kuwait.  (Bio note: Dana 
studied Political Science at Trinity University in 
Washington, DC and helped found Vote 2007, an organization 
dedicated to getting out the vote.  She also serves as the 
Vice President of the Kuwait Youth Organization and a Board 
member of the National Democratic Alliance, a liberal 
political association.  End note.)  The 39 organizations, 
which included the influential National Union of Kuwait 
Students (NUKS) and its affiliate, the Kuwait University 
Student Union, agreed to contribute 100 KD ($346) each to 
place an ad in three local newspapers saying simply, "We Want 
Five." 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) The ad received considerable attention and helped 
increase support for electoral reform, Dana said.  To 
 
KUWAIT 00002150  002 OF 003 
 
 
capitalize on their success, the youth organizations, led by 
the Kuwait Youth Organization, Vote 2007, and Student 
Strength, organized a series of rallies in support of five 
constituencies.  Dana believed these rallies, particularly 
the overnight rally held prior to the key May 15 
parliamentary debate on the issue, were crucial to 
galvanizing public support and pressuring pro-reform 
parliamentarians (MPs) to insist on five constituencies 
rather compromise with the Government on a ten constituency 
proposal.  It was this ad hoc coalition of youth 
organizations that ultimately drove the MPs' confrontation 
with the Government over electoral reform, rather than the 
movement being a tool the MPs used to pressure the 
Government, as some observers initially suggested. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) According to Dana, fractures in the movement began 
to emerge when the Islamist-dominated NUKS tried to take 
credit for and leadership of later rallies.  They succeeded 
to some degree, requiring the segregation of males and 
females and reading Qu'ranic verses over the loudspeakers, 
though most liberal organizations were willing to temporarily 
ignore these actions in the interest of maintaining the 
movement's momentum.  After the Amir constitutionally 
dissolved Parliament on May 21, the groups struggled to 
maintain their unity and momentum.  It remains to be seen if 
they can translate their successful pro-reform, 
anti-corruption campaign to the elections without the 
movement splitting over the various groups' support for 
different candidates. 
 
Phase II: "Paint the District Orange" 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) Dana told Poloff that one segment of the orange 
movement with which she is heavily involved was planning to 
launch "Phase II" of the movement on June 7.  This second 
phase will target corrupt candidates in five districts. 
During four-day campaigns in each district, pro-reformers aim 
to "paint the district orange" in an effort to demonstrate 
popular support for reform and highlight problems of 
corruption.  To this end, they have prepared packages, which 
include orange t-shirts, flags, and bumper stickers, to give 
to supporters of reform in each district.  Each campaign will 
culminate in a major pro-reform rally in that district.  The 
group also plans to hold one final rally in front of 
Parliament on June 28, the evening before the elections. 
Dana said the group hoped to raise 37,000 KD ($128,000) from 
sympathetic individuals to support their campaign, and 
reported that they had already raised more than a third of 
that amount in just three days.  Dana explained that they 
were not supporting any one candidate, rather they wanted to 
demonstrate their support for pro-reform candidates and 
opposition to corrupt candidates.  The ultimate goal, she 
said, was to get a less corrupt, more reform-minded 
Parliament elected, which would then reduce the number of 
electoral constituencies and pass other important political 
reforms. 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) Others from the orange movement have adopted 
different strategies and some openly support particular 
candidates.  Mohammed Al-Boushehri, a liberal Shi'a who 
participated in the orange movement, told Poloff he and a 
number of others involved in the movement had agreed to 
support Adnan Abdel Samad, a Shi'a candidate affiliated with 
the National Islamic Alliance (NIA), a highly conservative, 
pro-Iran Shi'a political association.  Al-Boushehri explained 
that although he disagreed with Samad's ideological leanings, 
he would support him because Samad was both pro-reform and 
strong enough to stand up to the Government.  (Bio note: 
Al-Bousherhri is a member of the National Democratic Alliance 
and the Kuwait Democratic Forum, both liberal political 
associations.  He helped found the Dialogue Center 
(www.kwtanweer.com), a group devoted to facilitating 
communication between different segments of Kuwaiti society. 
Al-Boushehri received a degree in industrial engineering from 
a university in Dayton, Ohio.  End note.) 
 
Cyber Activism 
-------------- 
 
¶8.  (S/NF) The three main websites/blogs devoted to the 
pro-reform goals of the orange movement are: www.alommah.org, 
www.kuwaitjunior.blogspot.com, and www.kuwait5.org.  (Note: 
All three websites are in Arabic.  End note.)  Bashar 
Al-Sayegh, who operates alommah.com, told Poloff he did not 
know who ran kuwaitjunior and its subsidiary website, 
Kuwait5, though he communicated with them through email.  He 
reported that hits on his site grew steadily since the 
beginning of the year and skyrocketed during the electoral 
 
KUWAIT 00002150  003 OF 003 
 
 
reform debate, reaching 200,000 hits in April and even more 
in May.  (Note: Kuwait has approximately one million citizens 
of whom 340,000 are registered to vote.  End note.)  Asked 
his motivation for promoting political reform, Al-Sayegh, who 
works for an Internet company, said he had always been 
interested in politics and wanted to "change the country's 
negative trends (i.e. corruption)."  He expressed hope that 
the next Parliament would again walk out if the Government 
refused to adopt five constituencies.  Al-Sayegh was 
hard-pressed, though, to explain why the movement met with so 
much popular support.  "We had no idea this would happen," he 
said. 
 
********************************************* * 
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/ 
********************************************* * 
TUELLER