VZCZCXRO1773
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #1562/01 3020958
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 290958Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0198
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001562 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2027 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM KU NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT REMOVES CONTROVERSIAL MINISTERS IN NEW 
CABINET LINEUP 
 
REF: KUWAIT 882 
 
Classified By: CDA Alan Misenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  On October 28, the Kuwaiti Government announced the 
formation of a new 16-person cabinet.  The new ministers took 
the oath of office before the Amir earlier the same day and 
assumed their new positions immediately.  Seven ministers, 
including FM Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al Sabah and Prime Minister 
Shaykh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, were retained with no change 
in their portfolios.  Five ministers from the previous 
cabinet were retained but have new portfolios.  Four 
individuals not in the previous cabinet were brought in 
(though one had been a minister previously) while one 
minister from the previous cabinet was dropped altogether. 
The one female minister remaining in the cabinet -- the 
Minister of Education, who was the First Lady's host during 
her October 24-25 visit to Kuwait -- retained her position, 
and the number of Shi'as returned to two after one of the 
Shi'a ministers resigned in August.  The Kuwaiti Muslim 
Brotherhood (KMB) retained the Electricity and Water 
portfolio after KMB member Mohammad Al-Elaim led a successful 
energy conservation campaign this past summer.  Three 
ministers have Islamist leanings, four ministers are 
considered liberals, five ministers are royal family members, 
three are considered to have tribal allegiances, and roughly 
six are considered technocrats.  (Note: some ministers can be 
classified in more than one category.  End note.) 
 
¶2.  (C)  This is the fourth cabinet formation since the Amir 
formally took over leadership of the country in January 2006. 
 The changes are an attempt on the Amir's part to end the 
political gridlock in the country resulting from the hostile 
and dysfunctional state of relations between the Government 
and the parliament.  While some key portfolios for the USG 
have changed, such as Social Affairs and Labor (key player on 
TIP) and Finance, we do not foresee any changes in Kuwait 
foreign policy. 
 
Why Now? 
-------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  This major cabinet shuffle comes in the wake of 
growing threats from opposition MPs to formally question 
("grill") several ministers.  A series of grillings during 
the 2006-2007 parliamentary session occupied the legislature 
and Government's time as important national legislation 
languished.  Prospective grillings have led to rampant rumors 
of the Amir dissolving Parliament for the second year in a 
row.  The Government has consistently moved to appease, 
rather than engage, the grillers.  The Awqaf (Religious 
Endowments) and Islamic Affairs Minister faced the most 
serious grilling threat and was excluded from the cabinet.  A 
formal grilling threat had already been filed against the 
Finance Minister, who was rotated to the Oil Ministry. 
(Note: It is unclear how much this will remove him from 
parliament's crosshairs.  End Note.)  The Interior Minister 
(previously dual-hatted as Defense Minister) faced less 
serious prospects of grilling, but was stripped of the 
Interior Ministry portfolio, leaving the Education Minister 
as the only remaining cabinet member who has been the subject 
of concrete grilling threats. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Some observers have commented that the basic cast of 
characters is the same, and the contentious relationship 
between the Government and parliament will continue 
unchanged.  Others see the reshuffle as a clear defeat for 
the Government, which has again proven its inability to stand 
up to MPs who wish to challenge the Government.  The threat 
to grill Finance Minister Bader Al-Humaidhi, for instance, 
was frivolous, but the Government chose to rotate him to 
another ministry rather than stand by him.  On the other 
hand, Government supporters argue that grillings were a 
distraction, and that the new line-up will allow the 
parliament to tackle administrative, political and economic 
reform rather than continuing their political squabbles.  If 
previous experience is a guide, however, the Government is 
not out of trouble yet.  After the last grilling-induced 
cabinet shake-up in March 2007, lawmakers across the spectrum 
pledged to focus on legislation rather than grillings.  Just 
six weeks later, however, the Oil Minister made a 
controversial remark in a newspaper interview and the rest of 
the parliamentary term was taken up almost entirely by his 
grilling.  It will take uncharacteristically strong 
leadership on the part of Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser 
Mohammad Al-Sabah to force MPs to address serious reform 
issues rather than finding other ways of needling the 
Government.  Shaykh Nasser has not shown strong leadership 
thus far. 
 
 
KUWAIT 00001562  002 OF 003 
 
 
The Cabinet Lineup 
------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C) 
-- Shaykh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime 
Minister and Minister of Defense. Shaykh Jaber retains the 
Defense portfolio but gives up the Interior Ministry.  There 
had been murmurs of grilling him in his capacity of Minister 
of the Interior. 
 
-- Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Deputy 
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.  No change. 
 
-- Faisal Mohammad Al-Hajji Bukhudhur, Deputy Prime Minister 
and Minister for Cabinet Affairs.  No change. 
 
-- Bader Mishari Al-Humaidhi, Minister of Oil.  Al-Humaidhi 
had been the Minister of Finance.  Tribal Islamist MP 
Dhayfallah Buramya had threatened to grill Al-Humaidhi, 
largely because Al-Humaidhi had led the effort to defeat 
Buramya's effort to write off all Kuwaitis' personal debts. 
Buramya may still insist on grilling Al-Humaidhi even though 
his new portfolio has nothing to do with the debt issue. 
Al-Humaidhi brings some oil experience to the job.  While he 
was competent at the Finance Ministry he was not especially 
proactive in promoting reform.  Given his past and his 
relationship with Parliament, he is not likely to be an agent 
for reform in the Oil Ministry. 
 
-- Shaykh Jaber Al-Khalid Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister of 
Interior.  Shaykh Jaber is a first-time minister.  A graduate 
of Sandhurst, he is a former Army Chief of Staff and 
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. 
 
-- Jamal Ahmad Al-Shihab, Minister of Social Affairs and 
Labor and Minister of Justice.  Al-Shihab is an accomplished 
lawyer with a history of government service in the Justice, 
Social Affairs and Labor, and Planning Ministries.  He is 
considered to be a moderate Islamist. 
 
-- Shaykh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of 
Information.  Shaykh Sabah Al-Khalid was rotated from the 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.  The Ministry of 
Information is a traditionally controversial post and the 
Government may be looking to shore up its stability by 
assigning a strong royal family member to the position. 
 
-- Abdullah Saud Al-Muhailbi, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic 
Affairs and Ministry of Communication.  The Salafis fiercely 
attacked the previous Awqaf Minister.  Appointing a 
representative of one of Kuwait's largest tribes may be an 
effort to make this ministry less susceptible to grilling 
threats.  Al-Muhailbi is a career bureaucrat with no 
particular professional expertise in either of his 
portfolios.  The government may have been looking for someone 
who was not a party to the competition between the Muslim 
Brotherhood and the Salafis over the Islamic agenda in Kuwait. 
 
-- Abdullah Abdalrahman Al-Taweel, Minister of Health. 
Al-Taweel, a liberal, was Minister of Commerce from 2003 - 
¶2006. 
 
-- Abdulwahid Mahmud Al-Awadhi, Minister of Housing Affairs 
and Minister of National Assembly Affairs.  Al-Awadhi had the 
Housing portfolio and has been acting National Assembly 
Affairs Minister since the incumbent resigned in June. 
 
-- Falah Al-Hajiri, Minister of Commerce and Industry.  No 
change. 
 
-- Mohammad Abdullah Al-Elaim, Minister of Electricity and 
Water.  No change.  Al-Elaim is the only minister from the 
Muslim Brotherhood. 
 
-- Mustafa Jassim Al-Shimmali, Minister of Finance. 
First-time minister and former U/S of Finance.  Shi'a. 
 
-- Moussa Hussein Al-Sarraf, Minister of Public Works and 
Minister of State for Municipality Affairs.  No change. 
Shi'a. 
 
-- Nouriya Al-Sabih, Minister of Education and Minister of 
Higher Education.  No change.  A liberal, she remains the 
only female cabinet member. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
 
KUWAIT 00001562  003 OF 003 
 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
MISENHEIMER