VZCZCXRO6912
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHKU #4206/01 2960622
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 230622Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7288
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 004206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR WALLER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: OPPOSITION GROUPS IN PARLIAMENT 
FORM 34-MEMBER REFORM BLOC 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 3826 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 3432 
 
Classified By: CDA Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Summary: The three opposition groups in Parliament 
-- the Islamic Bloc (17 MPs), the Popular Action Bloc (9 
MPs), and the National Action Bloc (8 MPs) -- announced the 
formation of a new, 34-member Reform Bloc, culminating weeks 
of meetings between the groups.  They also agreed on a common 
agenda, focusing primarily on fighting corruption, and a 
timetable for discussing the issues in Parliament.  The 
Government met with the three blocs separately to discuss 
their priorities and outline its own four-year strategy. 
Members of the Islamic Bloc told Poloff they were optimistic 
about the formation of and cooperation between the blocs, 
which they saw as "a positive development for democracy in 
Kuwait."  Members of the more liberal National Action Bloc 
were more pessimistic, noting that the three blocs had 
different outlooks and priorities.  They predicted the groups 
would clash after passing only one or two items on the 
agenda. 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) Comment: While parliamentary blocs are not new, 
the blocs in this Parliament have exhibited an unprecedented 
level of cohesion and coordination.  As one MP suggested, 
this is likely driven in part by recent electoral reforms, 
which, by more than doubling the number of voters in each 
district, are forcing parliamentarians to define themselves 
as part of a bloc in order to cater to a much larger 
electorate.  The Government has also adopted a different 
approach, encouraging the blocs' formation and working with 
them rather than seeking to undermine them, as many accuse 
former Ministers Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd and Mohammed Sharar of 
doing.  Although the creation of an umbrella Reform Bloc is a 
positive development, there are still significant differences 
between the three blocs at its core, which seem to agree on 
little else besides fighting corruption.  It remains to be 
seen whether these ideologically-opposed groups will be able 
to cooperate on a joint agenda in the next parliamentary 
session, which begins October 30.  End summary and comment. 
 
Opposition Groups Form Reform Bloc 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) After weeks of meetings, Parliament's three 
opposition blocs (ref A) announced October 10 the formation 
of a new Reform Bloc, comprising 34 out of Parliament's 65 
members.  (Note: Members of the 16-member Cabinet serve ex 
officio as MPs.  End note.)  While ideologically opposed on 
many social and religious issues, the Islamic Bloc (17 MPs), 
the Popular Action Bloc (9 MPs), and the National Action Bloc 
(8 MPs) nonetheless agreed to cooperate to fight corruption 
and push for several specific political and economic reforms. 
 They also agreed on a timetable for raising the issues in 
Parliament (see para 8).  Several Cabinet Ministers met 
separately on October 12 and 13 with the three blocs to 
discuss their priorities and to lay out the Government's own 
four-year development strategy (ref B).  Commenting on the 
meetings, State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Ismail 
Al-Shatti said the Government and Parliament agreed on the 
need to fight corruption, increase transparency, and 
implement a clear development strategy.  "Everyone wants to 
achieve (these) important goals.  All MPs we met are asking 
for that," he said.  Public reaction to the formation of the 
Reform Bloc and the Government's meetings with the three 
blocs' meetings has been generally positive. 
 
Islamist MPs Upbeat about Reform Bloc 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) Dr. Nasser Al-Sane, a member of the Islamic Bloc, 
downplayed differences between the three blocs during an 
October 11 meeting with Poloff, saying the blocs had "very 
easily" agreed on a common agenda.  Issues they disagreed on, 
like taxation of Kuwaiti agents of foreign companies, which 
liberals opposed and Islamists supported, were simply left 
off the agenda.  Al-Sane, who is also a member of the Islamic 
Constitutional Movement (ICM), the political arm of the 
Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood, said members of the liberal 
National Action Bloc were "not happy" about Islamists' 
insistence on the zakat law being included on the agenda, but 
had nonetheless agreed to support it to preserve a united 
front.  He noted that the Government had insisted on meeting 
the blocs separately rather than as a group.  Al-Sane said 
the typically contentious elections to Parliament's standing 
and ad hoc committees, which will take place when the 
Assembly reconvenes October 30 and which the blocs are trying 
to coordinate on, would indicate the level of cooperation 
 
KUWAIT 00004206  002 OF 003 
 
 
between the blocs and their ability to cooperate on a joint 
agenda.  He suggested the Islamic Bloc and the Popular Action 
Bloc were more closely aligned than the National Action Bloc, 
but noted that the formation of relatively  cohesive 
parliamentary blocs and the level of coordination between 
them was unprecedented in Kuwait's political history. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) During an October 17 meeting, another member of 
the Islamic Bloc, Adel Al-Sarawi, attributed the formation of 
and unprecedented cooperation between the blocs to 
Parliament's passage of legislation reducing the number of 
electoral constituencies from 25 to 5 in July.  He explained 
that MPs were trying to redefine themselves to appeal to a 
significantly larger constituency and noted that several 
former "service deputies" -- MPs whose political support 
derived from obtaining favors for their constituents -- had 
joined one of the three opposition blocs in the new 
Parliament.  "You can no longer achieve anything in 
Parliament by working on your own," he argued.  "This is a 
positive development for democracy in Kuwait."  Al-Sarawi 
said the "number one" priority of the Reform Bloc was 
fighting corruption and agreed with Al-Sane that it had been 
relatively easy for the blocs to agree on a common agenda in 
part because their constituents expected it. 
 
Liberals a Little More Skeptical 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) MP Faisal Al-Shaye, a member of the National 
Action Bloc and a prominent liberal, was less optimistic, 
predicting the blocs would "clash" after passing only one or 
two items on their agenda.  "We have different outlooks and 
different priorities," he said, noting that the National 
Action Bloc's top priority was privatization, which the 
Islamic Bloc was split over and the Popular Action Bloc 
completely opposed.  The top priority of the Islamic Bloc, on 
the hand, was the zakat law, which Al-Shaye said "we don't 
care about at all."  He said the list of the Reform Bloc's 
priorities was a product of the three blocs' earlier meetings 
and included many MPs' or blocs' pet projects, which the rest 
of the Reform Bloc did not fully support.  Although he was 
pessimistic about cooperation on issues beyond fighting 
corruption, he acknowledged that cooperation between the 
blocs was ultimately a positive development.  As a brief 
aside, he said that although Al-Sarawi was a member of the 
Islamic Bloc, he was closer to the National Action Bloc on 
many issues, a comment that highlights the often ambiguous 
leanings of Kuwaiti parliamentarians. 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, 
Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager, echoed Al-Shaye's sentiments in an 
October 15 meeting with PolChief.  Al-Sager, who is also a 
member of the National Action Bloc, said each bloc had its 
own priorities and predicted they would ultimately fail to 
cooperate on a common agenda.  He noted that the National 
Action Bloc opposed writing off citizens' loans and the zakat 
law, the top priorities of the Popular Action Bloc and the 
Islamic Bloc, respectively.  He said that even within the 
National Action Bloc not everyone had the same priorities. 
"Whatever the Government brings, whether we like it or not, 
we have to deal with as a priority," he concluded. 
 
Priorities of the Reform Bloc 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C/NF) Begin text of the priorities of the Reform Bloc in 
order of importance (Note: Dates in parentheses are the 
session(s) the bloc intends to discuss the issue in 
Parliament.  End note.): 
 
1)  Laws safeguarding state properties (December 4-5, 2006) 
2)  Laws on border warehouses and crossings (November 20-21, 
2006) 
3)  Law establishing a third telecommunications company 
(December 18-19, 2006) 
4)  Anti-monopolization law (December 18-19, 2006) 
5)  Zakat Law (November 6-7, 2006) 
6)  Jaber (the late Amir) Fund (February 19-20, 2007) 
7)  Contracts exceeding 100,000 KD ($345,000) (February 
19-20, 2007) 
8)  Internal Rules and Procedures (January 22-23, 2007) 
9)  Elections Law (January 22-23, 2007) 
10)  Sports (January 8, 2007) 
11)  Social rights for women and children (January 8, 2007) 
12)  Stipends for students (January 8, 2007) 
13)  Jaber Islamic Bank (March 5-6, 2007) 
14)  Health Company (March 5-6, 2007) 
15)  Disclosure of financial assets (March 19-20, 2007) 
16)  Handicapped retirement (March 19-20, 2007) 
 
KUWAIT 00004206  003 OF 003 
 
 
17)  Increasing retirees' pension payments (March 19-20, 2007) 
18)  Education as a tough profession (February 5-6, 2007) 
19)  Elderly citizens (February 5-6, 2007) 
20)  Maintaining the oil wealth and using it well (April 2-3, 
2007) 
21)  Establishing an underground subway company (April 26-27) 
 
End text. 
 
********************************************* * 
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