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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #2300/01 1661004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151004Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5180
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/P, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO KDEM PGOV KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA ELECTION COVERAGE JUNE 8-14: NEWSPAPER JOINS 
CHORUS AGAINST CORRUPTION 
 
REF: KUWAIT 2152 
 
¶1. Summary: Corruption and alleged vote-buying held sway in the 
media this week as the June 29 elections draw nearer.  One 
Arabic-language daily joined the fray by launching its own 
anti-vote-buying campaign with front-page banners and by setting up 
a hotline for the public to report corruption. Reform, corruption 
and women continue to be the three leading election themes reported 
in all the media.  The new liberal satellite channel "We Want It 
Alliance" made its debut after being initially blocked. End summary. 
 
 
Newspaper Launches Anti-corruption Campaign 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. One of Kuwait's leading Arabic-language dailies, "Al-Watan," this 
week joined the growing voices against corruption in the elections 
process by launching a campaign to combat vote-buying. The 
announcement came in the June 12 edition with a front-page banner 
reading, "Let Us Say with One Voice: Kuwait Is Not for Sale," 
followed by the subhead, "Al-Watan Launches Its Campaign for 
Combating Vote-Buying." With this initiative the paper took a clear 
stance on this key campaign issue. The front page also contained an 
un-attributed editorial that was likely written by the 
Editor-in-Chief. In it the paper promised to fight bribery and 
financial embezzlement during the election noting that "bribes can 
come in different kinds of forms, not just money."  The paper then 
appealed to the readers as patriotic citizens to reject such bribes. 
The public was invited to report incidents of vote-buying by 
telephoning the paper's hotline dedicated to the anti-corruption 
campaign. The next day "Al-Watan" reported on its front page great 
success on its first day of the campaign.  It said that many calls 
had come into the hotline recounting incidents of candidates 
offering cash rewards and other benefits in exchange for votes. 
 
¶3. In addition to corruption and vote-buying, women and elections as 
well as the fate of electoral constituency redistricting also 
remained hot topics among the candidates and in the media.  The 
newspapers continued to dedicate large and prominent space to the 
role of women voters and candidates in the election and in the new 
Parliament. "Fadia Al-Saad Demands 'Quota' for Women: I Am Happy 
That Women Candidates in Outlying Areas Have Broken the Barriers," 
"Al-Rai Al-Aam," front page, June 11, and "Women's Vote Is the 
Tsunami of Elections," "Al-Qabas," pg. 25, June 11, illustrate the 
 
SIPDIS 
continued focus on the topic. The headline "Al-Mislim: Corruption 
Has Reached an Alarming Level," pg. 30, "Al-Qabas," June 13, 
demonstrates the continued press focus on corruption. 
 
Local Issues Begin to Emerge in Media 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Some local issues are beginning to emerge in the media among the 
daily clamor on vote-buying, corruption and women. Both sides of the 
issue of education, for example, were reported by "Al-Watan" on June 
¶13.  In two separate articles, the paper reported the position of 
the candidate Jamal Al-Kandari who argued that the national 
education system should be reformed in order to defend traditional 
Kuwaiti society, which is conservative by nature.  On another page, 
the paper reported the stance of an unnamed woman candidate who 
stated at a seminar that the educational system should be reformed 
so that Kuwait could catch up to the rest of the modern world. 
 
Television Increases Coverage of Election Issues 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. In a departure from its normally lackluster coverage of election 
issues, the public TV news station KTV1 on June 12 explored the 
topic of women and elections on its weekly program "Fit for 
Publication."  The show adhered to the public media's policy of not 
interviewing candidates.  However, it did feature interviews with an 
academic, the Undersecretary of Higher Education, and the Minister 
of Information. In her comments, the Undersecretary stressed that 
regardless of the outcome of the elections, the importance of this 
historical event for women, the ability to run and vote, should not 
be marginalized.  The Minister of Information promised that public 
TV would cover election night in a neutral manner and that the 
public could expect to see a different kind of election coverage 
with easy-to-use graphics and charts.  The private TV station Al-Rai 
continued daily coverage on its news broadcasts of election issues 
and candidate platforms.  On its June 13 nightly news it reported 
that the top issues being discussed at election headquarters are 
corruption, redistricting and women's issues.  The Satellite TV 
channel "The Parliament Dome" is airing near-continuous daily 
programming with a conservative leaning.  After being initially 
 
KUWAIT 00002300  002 OF 002 
 
 
blocked by the Minister of Information (see reftel), the liberal 
satellite channel "We Want It Alliance" debuted on another signal. 
News of the channel's successful airing filled blog sites, which 
posted the satellite frequency. 
 
Polling Gives Flavor of Public Opinion 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. Two polls, one from the print media and one from broadcast, gave 
a flavor of public opinion on two hot election topics - vote-buying 
and outside influence on women's voting. "Al-Watan" daily newspaper 
reported in its June 14 edition that in answer to the question 
"Would you sell your vote," 74 percent said no and 26 percent said 
yes.  Al-Rai TV conducted a poll on the question "Do men have 
influence on a woman's vote?"  The percentage responding yes was 76 
percent while 24 percent said no. 
 
 
Internet and Blogs Keep Pace 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Blog sites were busy posting comments from the public on 
election issues.  The hot topics on the Internet mirrored those in 
the mainstream media. One blogger, however, criticized the 
mainstream media, in this case the daily newspaper "Al-Rai Al-Aam." 
He or she sent an email to other bloggers containing a link to a 
photograph of a campaign event that appeared in the paper.  The 
blogger pointed out that on close inspection the audience members 
were clearly duplicated in the photo in order to make attendance at 
the rally seem larger than it was.  The author accused the paper of 
"meddling" and "fabricating" things for its own benefit, by making 
it seem that the candidate's event was more popular than it really 
was. When the satellite channel "We Want It Alliance" finally made 
its debut this week, the blog sites were busy posting the satellite 
frequency where it could be found.  The channel's debut was 
announced enthusiastically on many sites, many of which accused the 
government of "trying to ban our channel" (see reftel).  Finally, 
one candidate for the second district launched his own blog site in 
order to talk to voters . 
 
********************************************* * 
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