VZCZCXRO9937
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBD #0105/01 0790924
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 200924Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3776
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KISL BX
SUBJECT: BRUNEI LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - MORE SMALL STEPS 
FORWARD 
 
REF: A. 06 BANDAR 157 
 
     ¶B. 05 BANDAR 425 
 
Classified By: DCM Justin Friedman, Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) Brunei took another small step forward on the path to 
more representative government when the State Legislative 
Council (LegCo) convened for its third session March 6-11. 
Repeating last year's move toward greater fiscal transparency 
(ref A), the appointed and indirectly-elected members of the 
LegCo debated and approved a BDOL 4.6 billion (USD 3.0 
billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1.  The 
Sultan emphasized "accountability" in his opening remarks and 
non-government member Pehin Goh King Chin pushed the envelope 
of public debate with a call for greater rights and 
privileges for permanent residents, who include many ethnic 
Chinese that have deep roots in Brunei but do not enjoy the 
same status as the primarily ethnic Malay citizenry.  While 
political party leaders criticized the LegCo as mere "window 
dressing" and pressed for direct elections to the body, this 
year's session demonstrates that the Sultan is continuing his 
policy of ever-so-cautiously taking small steps toward a more 
accountable and transparent form of governance, and that most 
Bruneians remain satisfied with the deliberate pace of his 
top-down political reforms.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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POMP AND LEGISLATE 
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¶2. (C) In an opening ceremony replete with full dress pomp 
and protocol, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah opened the third 
session of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on March 6.  As 
has been the case since the Sultan revived the LegCo in 2005, 
none of its 30 current members attained their seats via 
direct popular vote.  LegCo membership consisted of the 
Sultan and Crown Prince, 12 members of the government 
cabinet, 5 district representatives elected by their fellow 
village heads, and 11 members appointed by the Sultan 
(included in this last group is the Speaker of the LegCo, who 
not uncoincidentally also happens to be father-in-law to one 
of the Sultan's daughters.) 
 
¶3. (C) In a signal of the increasing importance of 
transparency in government finance, the Sultan called on "all 
government agencies entrusted with the State budget 
allocation to manage it with full accountability and use it 
according to plans."  Prior to the session, senior officials 
from the Ministries of Defense, Industry and Primary 
Resources, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Finance had told us 
that they were spending extra time on this year's budget 
preparation in anticipation of sharp questions from the 
non-government members of the LegCo.  Hj Mohammad Rozan 
Yunus, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance 
and the not-so-anonymous voice behind the Brunei Resources 
website and blog told us that he and his staff had devoted 
considerably more time this year than last to prepare 
briefing materials and backgrounders to be ready for tough 
questions from LegCo members. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Although there were serious (and not-so-serious) 
questions and comments about several aspects of the budget 
draft during the LegCo session, as expected the budget 
presented by the government was eventually approved without 
amendment.  The LegCo unanimously passed a BDOL 4.6 billion 
budget (USD 3.0 billion) , with projected revenues of BDOL 
5.8 driven (USD 3.8 billion) largely by expected continuing 
high world oil prices.  National defense and security took 
the largest share with approved spending of BDOL 1.3 billion 
(USD 850 million), of which the Ministry of Defense will get 
some BDOL 520 million (USD 341 million).  Other major budget 
priorities are plans to invest BDOL 996 (USD 653 million) in 
human resource development including schools, the new Islamic 
University of Brunei, and other training programs; BDOL 785 
million (USD 515 million) for infrastructure development; and 
BDOL 236 million (USD 155 million) to support development of 
the private sector and non-oil and gas industries.  As with 
previous years, Brunei's big challenge will be to spend all 
the funds allocated.  We have heard estimates that for the 
current budget year ending March 31, from BDOL 500 million to 
1 billion (USD 328-656 million) will be left unspent and 
uncommitted. 
 
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No Big Surprises 
 
BANDAR SER 00000105  002 OF 002 
 
 
---------------- 
 
¶5. (C) In this absolute monarchy that prides itself on being 
the "abode of peace" and in conducting public debate within 
tight restraints, it is not surprising that there were few 
fireworks at this year's session.  Pehin Goh King Chin, a 
leading ethnic Chinese businessman, Brunei citizen and LegCo 
member, took perhaps the boldest public stance, suggesting 
that the GoB relax restrictions on foreign citizens ownership 
of land, homes and commercial property.  He also suggested 
that Brunei introduce medical insurance for permanent 
residents who are not eligible for the free care afforded 
citizens.  Although Pehin Goh was careful to refer 
generically to "foreign citizens" and "permanent residents," 
it was clear to all that he was speaking on behalf of the 
thousands of ethnic Chinese permanent residents, some of whom 
come from families that have been in Brunei for generations 
but have never been granted citizenship and so do not enjoy 
the same rights and privileges of Bruneian citizens who are 
overwhelmingly ethnic Malays.  Other complaints aired during 
the session were the petty and parochial issues that often 
occupy legislatures - not enough spending on roads and 
infrastructure in certain locations, increasing pensions for 
widows, and a call for free parking at hospitals.  Sessions 
were open to the public, but few other than media and post's 
Pol/Mil assistant chose to attend. 
 
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Political Parties Critical 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) By law, government officials and LegCo members are 
barred from membership in political parties.  Dr. Mohd Hatta 
Zainal Abidin, President of the Brunei Solidarity National 
Party (PPKB) told us that the LegCo was mere "window 
dressing."  He said that until there were elections and 
cabinet members were drawn from the LegCo (instead of the 
current practice of Sultan-appointed cabinet members as 
ex-officio LegCo members) and there was a real opposition, 
these sessions would not be any more than a rubber stamp on 
government plans.  Mahmood Morshidi Othman, Deputy President 
of the newer and larger National Development Party (NDP), 
echoed in more circumspect terms Hatta's criticism of the 
current LegCo. 
 
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When Elections? 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Neither Morshidi nor Hatta were optimistic that an 
expected expansion of the LegCo to include directly elected 
members would happen soon (reftels).  During a call by 
Ambassador and DCM in December, Speaker of the LegCo Pg. Dr. 
Hj Kemaludin Mohd Yassin was non-responsive to our questions 
about when elections would be held and what preparatory steps 
were being taken.  Kemaludin repeated several times that 
Brunei treasured stability, implying that elections would 
introduce an element of uncertainty that could threaten that 
stability.  However, Dr. Hatta said that he and his party 
members had observed government officials working at the 
village level to gather population data and understand 
natural links among villages in preparation for what Dr. 
Hatta believed would be the outlining of coherent electoral 
districts for directly-elected seats on the LegCo. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8. (C) Since the recreation of the LegCo in 2004, the Sultan 
has slowly and cautiously added elements of transparency and 
accountability to the legislative process.  This year's 
budget debate and non-government member question and answer 
sessions were a small step further towards a more democratic 
practice.  Public reaction appeared to be generally 
supportive of this top-down, snail-paced reform, although 
some politicians like Dr. Hatta would like to see the LegCo 
take the next step of considering and passing laws, ending 
Brunei's 34-year dependence on "emergency" orders issued by 
the Sultan.  The Sultan has publicly committed to expanding 
the LegCo to include directly-elected members, and there 
remains an expectation that this step will be taken at some 
point.  We can best support this slow process of 
democratization by quietly encouraging the Sultan, his 
government, and Brunei's people to continue on this path, 
albeit at a faster pace. 
SKODON