VZCZCXRO8168
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0566/01 1410320
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200320Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1489
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, 
B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA 
LONDON FOR NEA WATCHER 
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU KWMN MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION -- Kuwait Parliamentary Elections 
 
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SUMMARY 
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Monday, May 19, 2008 
 
¶1. Summary:  As expected, the front page headlines of all Kuwaiti 
dailies covered the success of Islamist candidates in the Saturday, 
May 17 Kuwaiti Parliamentary elections.  All newspapers also 
addressed the fact that no female candidates were elected to 
Parliament.  Additionally, almost all of the Kuwaiti dailies printed 
editorials and op-eds analyzing the election results.  Several of 
the editorials below expressed sympathy for the female candidates. 
Other articles listed the challenges that the Government of Kuwait 
might face if it chooses to follow a reformist "path of real 
development," a platform claimed by almost all the candidates. 
Several columnists characterized the election results as hopeless, 
also describing the results as a crisis of "mentality, culture, and 
lack of awareness."  End summary. 
 
¶2. Block Quotes: 
 
-- Alam Al-Yawm published an editorial carrying the headline 
"Congrats to all; (welcome) to a Bright Present and Future."  In 
this article, conservative Islamist Dr. Bassam Al-Shati advised the 
future Parliamentarians (05/19):  "We are hopeful that the righteous 
and committed Parliament members will be able to work out an agenda 
that will serve the interest of those who elected them.  Those who 
elected you are anticipating Islamist projects and to see the 
country move forward in every way.  If you are offered a ministerial 
position, do not turn it down.  Be the servants of the people, and 
do not open the closed doors that were the causes of political 
crises in the past." 
 
--In the progressive moderate English daily, Kuwait Times, columnist 
Badrya Darwish, wrote a front-page editorial entitled, "Conspiracy 
Theories:  Our Own Worst Enemies."  She writes, "I cannot express 
how angry I am with women in Kuwait.  We spent decades fighting, 
lobbying, screaming our heads off, building support among all 
organizations all over the world to take our political rights...We 
mentioned it on every occasion, whether said or happy or social 
political...And once we got it, what did we do with it?  Nothing. 
It was all hypocrisy, that we wanted our rights.  Sheer hypocrisy. 
In the last elections, we justified the failure of a woman to win 
even one seat in Parliament by saying never mind, no experience. 
Lack of experience, lack of courage, and lack of time to build a 
support base.  But the second time, excuse me, this is not 
justifiable at all.  It reflects the deep internal thinking of women 
in Kuwait.  The number of women who voted is in the thousands; sixty 
percent of female voters turned out for the vote.  They outnumbered 
men.  And to whom did they give their voice?  Only to men." 
 
-- Under the headline "That is Us," Abdul Latif Al-Doueij, a 
columnist at the moderate Arabic language daily Al-Qabas, opined 
(05/19):  "what counts eventually is the people's will and choice. 
We need time and we need effort to get rid of the negative traces 
left by the 25-constituency regime.  We have to say that the mission 
of the upcoming government will be difficult especially if it 
chooses to follow the 'path of real development.'  It certainly has 
great potential since it still has the right to deal with all the 
public property (GDP).  It does not have to collect it through 
taxes, as other governments do.  It is in fact the only owner and 
producer; it has all the chances to direct the people. It only has 
to be decisive and ready to go."  Another columnist in the same 
newspaper, Hassan Al-Issa wrote (05/19):  "nothing is new under the 
strong sun of Kuwait except some supplementary political dust that 
is strangling freedom.  Even though the Islamic Constitutional 
Movement members of Parliament lost the elections, the rest of the 
Islamists' groups have won.  Therefore, I am looking for the hope 
that we were supposed to get out of the five-constituency regime but 
I have found nothing.  The crises are not about constituencies, they 
are about mentality, culture and lack of awareness." 
 
-- A front page editorial by Chief Editor Mohammad Al-Rumeihi in the 
recently-founded moderate Arabic language daily, Awan, carried the 
headline "The Number Changes But Not the Society."  The Chief Editor 
wrote (05/19):  "it is early to judge the new Parliament, yet we are 
sure it is more youthful and educated than its predecessor.  Our 
society is today more educated and this will definitely lead us to 
better political actions.  The results actually reveal some lessons. 
 The first lesson is that it is now time to talk about a minimum 
quota for women in each constituency.  We should think of 
establishing a Ministry of Political Development to increase 
political awareness, as well." 
 
-- In his daily column in the political Arabic daily Alam Al-Yawm, 
 
KUWAIT 00000566  002 OF 002 
 
 
entitled "Arigato Hadas," liberal writer Mishari Al-Adwani wrote 
(05/19):  "The biggest loser is 'Hadas' or the 'Constitutional 
Islamic Movement, or Muslim Brotherhood.'  We expected this outcome 
a year ago, and now it has been confirmed.  In one day, Hadas lost 
what it has been building for years.  It has become the weakest bloc 
in the National Assembly.  What happened to Hadas can happen to any 
bloc or coalition.  The Kuwaiti elector is mature and Kuwait's press 
has become very informative, unlike the days of the five newspapers. 
 The internet and its online forums have helped in disclosing all 
the mistakes and wrong doings of candidates.  I just want to say to 
Hadas: 'Arigato,' which means thank you in Japanese." 
 
-- Under the headline, "Our Truth," liberal columnist Saleh 
Al-Shayji editorialized in the pro-government Arabic daily Al-Anbaa 
(05/19):  "Whether we have five, ten, fifteen or twenty five 
electoral districts our democracy will not be cured from its 
terminal illness.  The social fabric of the Kuwaiti society will 
only produce an outcome like the one we had yesterday.  This kind of 
a result will not help the country's reform, but it may well be a 
cause of its deterioration.  This outcome will not put us ahead -- 
not even one step.  To the contrary, the result of yesterday's 
elections is an assurance of a dim future that promises many 
political crises.  Those who were elected to the National Assembly 
through primary elections will not be forgiving towards the 
government.  They will begin their campaigns of vengeance.  They had 
believed that the government was against them during the elections, 
and now it's time for revenge.  With the lack of supportive laws, 
the government will remain weak and helpless.  One way to appease 
the Islamists is to grant them ministerial seats.  This way the 
pre-election enemy becomes tomorrow's friend." 
 
********************************************* * 
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/ 
********************************************* * 
 
JONES