VZCZCXRO6069
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHGI RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHKU #2600/01 1811227
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301227Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5512
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002600 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KWMN KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA:  KUWAITI WOMEN NOT REPRESENTED IN 
PARLIAMENT, BUT PROVE THEY ARE A POLITICAL FORCE 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary and comment:  Kuwaiti women voted and ran 
for office for the first time on June 29.  While initial 
reports indicate only 35% of registered women voted, EmbOffs 
who visited polling stations saw crowds of women taking part 
in the electoral process in both urban and tribal areas. 
Women's polling stations, in contrast to the men's, were 
quite festive and campaign workers offered refreshments and 
snacks to voters.  The campaign volunteers, many of whom were 
too young to vote, at times outnumbered the voters.  Women 
were enthusiastic about the experience and proud of their 
enhanced role in Kuwaiti society.  They were pleased with the 
GOK's management of the balloting, reporting the process was 
well organized and clear.  While no woman was elected to 
Parliament, their participation proved their interest in 
politics and willingness to take part in the process.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
Proud to Participate 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  On June 29, Kuwait held general elections for its 
50-member Parliament.  The elections were the first time in 
Kuwait's history that women participated both as voters and 
candidates and the run-up to the elections was dominated by 
talk of corruption and the need for political reform, issues 
brought to the fore by youth and women activists.  EmbOffs 
visited several of the 91 polling stations (45 for men and 46 
for women) and were present for both the opening and the 
closing of the polls.  There was no evidence of tampering and 
women's stations had a celebratory air with campaign 
committees offering food and beverages to voters, 
journalists, and the curious.  The first-time women voters 
described the process as clear and easy and expressed their 
joy and pride at the opportunity to have their voices heard. 
 
One Final Protest 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Polling got off to a raucous start with an 
anti-corruption protest organized by the "orange movement." 
200 young people gathered in front of the Jabriya police 
station where they screened a film, taken by a cell phone 
camera, allegedly depicting candidate Jamal Al-Omar buying 
votes.  Wearing yellow danger signs that read, "My god, it's 
a shame...Kuwait is not for sale," the young people called on 
Ministry of Interior officials to intervene.  Police 
officers, clearly surprised by the rally, pleaded for the 
crowd to disburse arguing that they were impeding the traffic 
flow.  After talking to journalists, who dubbed the protest 
"Cheques, Lies and Videotape," and appealing to onlookers to 
vote for a change, the crowd disbursed and security officials 
resumed preparing for the morning's elections.  By late 
evening, all polling stations had been set up with police 
cars blocking entries and exits and officers posted in front 
of the doors. 
 
An Early Start in Tribal Areas 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U)  Early on June 29, EmbOffs arrived at a polling 
station in Ahmadi, a tribal area home to the headquarters of 
Kuwait Oil Company, and found 20 abaya and hijab-clad women 
patiently waiting for the site to open.  Five minutes after 
entering the station, they emerged, grinning broadly, and 
praising the GOK for a clear and easy process. As they 
departed, a stream of women of all ages, with some of the 
elderly in wheelchairs, steadily arrived.  All of the women 
said they voted for candidates representing their same tribe. 
 
¶4.  (U)  In nearby Dahiat Sabah Al-Salem, female candidate 
Leila Al-Reshaid had a campaign bus outside the polling 
station.  Inside, ten of her staff had a laptop where they 
could confirm voter registration information, and were 
prepared to explain to women how to cast their votes.  The 
only female candidate in the Bedouin district, Al-Reshaid did 
surprisingly well garnering 509 votes and coming in fourth 
out of six candidates. 
 
Celebrating Women's Rights 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  In Farwaniya, a conservative Bedouin area on the 
outskirts of Kuwait city, 500 women had already voted by 
10:00 AM.  The street in front of the school had been closed 
and a fair-like setting emerged.  Children dressed in 
sequined costumes passed out campaign literature, campaign 
staff passed out buttons and bottled water and offered last 
minute instructions on how to vote while the men looked on in 
 
KUWAIT 00002600  002 OF 002 
 
 
utter amazement.  Likewise in Bedouin Jeleeb Al-Shuwaikh, 
women were also celebrating their new political rights. 
EmbOffs were practically accosted by campaign volunteers who 
wanted to know if they had voted.  Before a banner of late 
Amir Jaber, supporters of various candidates offered tea, 
Arabic coffee, dates, and sweets to voters regardless of 
political affiliation.  They told LES PolAsst that while they 
hoped women would vote for their candidate, they were 
offering refreshments to all in celebration of Kuwaiti women 
and their new rights. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  In comparison to the tribal areas, the environment 
of the women's polling stations in urban areas was frenzied 
and the excitement infectious. In Surra and Jabriya, areas of 
district 10 where six women were running for office, traffic 
slowed to a crawl as mostly female campaign volunteers in 
120-degree heat wove in and out of cars passing out roses, 
campaign flyers, and water.  When asked if they had voted, 
many of the workers said they were not yet 21 and looked 
forward to 2010 when they would be of age.  Parking lots were 
full as women waited for a chance to vote and chatted with 
friends after they cast their ballots.  In Shamiya, the 
district of former chairman of Parliament's foreign relations 
committee Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager and former Speaker Jassem 
Al-Khorafi (both were re-elected), streamers and flags 
decorated the neighborhood and voters and visitors were 
treated to ice cream, shwarmas, and frappucinos courtesy of 
one of the Khorafi family companies.  Al-Sager told PolOffs 
that as of 7:00PM, 63% of the women in the district had 
voted.  In upscale Dahiat Abdullah Al-Salem, volunteers were 
ferrying voters in golf carts from parking lots to the 
polling station.  Groups of campaign workers sang and posed 
for pictures, children played games, and women cheered and 
hugged when the polls closed at 8:00 PM.  Moudhi Al-Sager, a 
member of the Women's Cultural and Social Society, said she 
had voted early in the morning and spent the day as an 
official observer touring various sites.  She reported no 
irregularities and was moved by the many women voting. 
 
June 29:  A New National Day 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  By 10:00 PM, election results, broadcast live on 
local TV, were starting to trickle in and campaign tents and 
signs were being dismantled.  No woman was elected and in 
areas where several were running, the vote was split among 
them.  (Note:  In district 10, Rola Dashti led the women with 
1550 votes and coming in fifth.  She was followed by Nabila 
Al-Anjari who won 1054 votes and was in seventh place. 
Attorney Hind Ben Al-Shaikh was in twelfth place with 198 
votes.  The remaining three women candidates each earned 50 
or fewer votes.  End note.)  Nonetheless, the day's 
enthusiasm has not begun to wane.  Columnist and activist Dr. 
Samar Al-Roumi, who a week ago doubted women would even 
bother to go to the polls, said she was impressed by the 
number of women who voted and called June 29 a "new national 
day in Kuwait's history."  Moudhi Al-Sager recounted that her 
daughter had a less eloquent, but sure-fire way to remember 
the day, which elicited muffled laughs from veiled women when 
she repeated the statement:  "I lost my political virginity." 
 
********************************************* * 
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