US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT810

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000810 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, INR/NESA 
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, IZ, KISL, YM, KU 
SUBJECT: HUNGRY MPS WARM UP THE GRILL 
 
 1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Finance Minister Mahmoud Al-Nouri could be 
the first casualty in the National Assembly's "grilling" 
campaign as some of the March 10 local dailies report that he 
has resigned in lieu of facing a vote of 
no-confidence--although we could not independently verify 
these reports with the Finance Ministry.  The March 8th 
session of parliament led to a near-unanimous call for a vote 
of no-confidence against him.  Islamists and the 
anti-government Popular Action Bloc in the parliament are in 
the process of unleashing a stream of grillings in the coming 
weeks and months.  The Al-Nouri grilling, the first since the 
election of the current National Assembly will undoubtedly 
set the pace for follow-on confrontations between the 
Government and parliament.  Because the grilling process can 
force ministers from office, Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah 
Al-Ahmad could choose to reshuffle the Cabinet to avoid the 
embarrassment of forced resignation of his ministers.   It is 
too early to determine whether the grilling campaign will be 
so severe as to lead to the dissolution of the Assembly. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
(U) The Rules 
-------------- 
2. (U) In its simplest form, "grilling" also known as 
interpellation or interrogation (Istijwab), is an act of 
ministerial accountability.  The members of parliament (MPs) 
have the right to inquire into the activities of any 
government minister including the Prime Minister and 
throughout the last 40 years have done so regularly.  The 
process can only be conducted eight days after formal 
presentation of the request in writing; however, this period 
can be shortened in urgent cases and with the consent of the 
minister being grilled.  No more than three members can 
present the request.  The process can lead to a call for a 
vote of no-confidence in the minister upon written request 
signed by 10 MPs.  The no-confidence vote requires only a 
simple majority of the members to pass, in which case the 
minister is required to resign.  To avoid embarrassing 
ministers, the Amir can decide to dissolve the Assembly and 
call new elections.  If the newly elected body decides not to 
cooperate with the same Prime Minister, he will be considered 
dismissed from office immediately. 
 
(U) Round One: Al-Nouri Forced Out? 
---------------------------------------- 
3. (SBU) According to unconfirmed press reports, Finance 
Minister Mahmoud Al-Nouri resigned on March 9 in light of the 
grilling from the National Assembly, as parliament agreed 
almost unanimously during its March 8 session to call for a 
vote of no-confidence against him.  By the end of the 12-hour 
session--a rarity in itself--MPs across the political 
spectrum were supportive of the grilling effort and MP 
Musallam Al-Barrak of the Popular Action Bloc, who 
spearheaded the charge against Al-Nouri, easily received the 
necessary ten signatures to call for a vote.  The vote is 
supposed to take place during the next scheduled session on 
March 22.  Kuwaiti law mandates that the vote occur no less 
than one week after the motion is submitted.  In his attack, 
Al-Barrak cited gross impropriety in the Finance Ministry and 
by Al-Nouri.  (NOTE: The former three-time speaker of the 
parliament, Ahmad Al-Saadoun--a long-time anti-government and 
anti-corruption crusader--heads the six-member Popular Action 
Bloc. END NOTE). 
 
4. (SBU) The grilling accused Al-Nouri of numerous shortfalls 
including: a lack of competitive bidding in contracts with 
Halliburton and Metric Group, which led to great financial 
loss for the GOK; signing a contract allowing properties of 
the state to be sold for extremely low prices; showing double 
standards in his Kuwait Airways corporate dealings; trying to 
dissolve the board of directors of Kuwait Investment 
Authority; deciding against the promotion of certain civil 
service employees; suggesting the cancellation of the offset 
program; and a failure to end investment in Lebanese casinos. 
 (NOTE: Many of the accusations appear politically motivated 
and many of the offending actions did not occur on 
Al-Nouri,s watch as Finance Minister, which began in July 
2003. END NOTE).  The show-stopping accusations against 
Al-Nouri were the revelations that he attempted to smuggle 
Egyptian artifacts into Kuwait during the 1990s and that 
while chairman of the Kuwait Public Transport Company (KPTC), 
he allegedly had his 19-year-old son, while both were on 
vacation in Geneva, sign, as a witness, a contract between 
KPTC and an international organization.  While Al-Barrak,s 
aggressive approach to the grilling did not initially sit 
well with some because of the perceived personal nature of 
the attacks, he had no trouble on the opening day of the 
grilling convincing all but one MP of Al-Nouri's culpability 
on many of the allegations against him. 
 
5. (SBU) Al-Nouri began his defense before parliament by 
explaining his position and denying most of the charges. 
Al-Nouri claimed that he acted "within the limits of the law 
and constitution to protect state properties and public 
funds."  He also criticized the grillings as "obscure and 
ambiguous."  The Finance Minister's argument, however, was 
not enough to refute the overwhelming tide against him.  Only 
pro-Government MP Khalaf Dumaithir Al-Enezi sided with 
Al-Nouri while the rest of parliament was unconvinced by the 
minister's point-by-point defense.  Even liberal MP Ali 
Al-Rashed, a former prosecutor and judge, who at first openly 
wanted to side with Al-Nouri conceded to the press afterward 
that "the minister had no convincing argument."  Al-Nouri 
vowed publicly on March 8 that he had no intention of 
resigning. 
 
6. (SBU) An Embassy press contact, whose information cannot 
be confirmed, informed us that Al-Nouri had submitted his 
resignation, but that the Prime Minister will not take any 
action on it until the departure of the Egyptian Prime 
Minister, who arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday for a two-day 
visit.  Many of our contacts speculate that Prime Minister 
Shaykh Sabah intends to initiate a limited Cabinet reshuffle 
to avoid the looming consequences from the projected series 
of National Assembly grillings.  Others argue that he will 
not pursue a cabinet reshuffle because that would embolden an 
already contentious parliament.  Alternatively, the 
possibility of dissolution of the National Assembly is being 
discussed in the news dailies, especially if members of the 
ruling family were to be grilled harshly.  Most pundits 
contend that a Cabinet reshuffle is the more likely option 
should a great need arise to avoid an embarrassing outcome 
for a minister: dissolution of the Assembly would invite the 
perception of undemocratic behavior by the regime, even 
though it is permissible under the constitution.  While few 
think the Sabah government is seriously contemplating 
dissolution of parliament, few rule it out completely, 
especially if the grillings become numerous, aggressive, and 
embarrassing. 
 
(SBU) Round Two: Islamists in Harmony 
----------------------------------------- 
7. (SBU) A probable follow-on grilling after the effort 
against the Finance Minister concerns Information Minister 
Mohammed Abdullah Abulhassan, a liberal and the only Shia in 
the Cabinet.  Islamist MPs led by MP Awad Barad Al-Enezi are 
preparing to grill Abulhassan for promoting "moral 
corruption" because of perceived ministry support for 
"indecent" musical concerts and magazines, and other charges 
associated with a general failure to maintain the society,s 
moral standards.  (NOTE: The ministry recently issued several 
licenses for private companies to invite famous Lebanese and 
Egyptian pop stars to perform in public in Kuwait. END NOTE). 
  In response to the pressure, the Ministry of Information 
has increased the number of officials who monitor suspect 
concerts to ensure that rules are not violated. 
 
8. (SBU) Islamist MP Waleed Tabtabaei said that a proposal 
will be submitted to the National Assembly that calls for the 
Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to approve regulations 
for concerts.  The proposal,s intent is to ban "obscene and 
impudent" concerts and songs that use vulgar language.  It 
would bar women and men from mixing at concerts, prevent 
female musicians from singing in front of men and from 
wearing "indecent" clothes.  (NOTE:  Several musical concerts 
were held as a part of the Hala Festival, Kuwait,s February 
shopping celebration, over the objections of Islamists. END 
NOTE). 
 
(U) Halliburton and the Minister of Energy 
------------------------------------------- 
9. (SBU) Energy Minister Shaykh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah, nephew 
of the Amir and the Prime Minister, is in hot water over the 
Halliburton controversy and other issues.  Popular Action 
Bloc regulars Al-Barrak and Ahmad Al-Saadoun are leading the 
charge against Shaykh Ahmad.  They are also alleging 
impropriety in Energy Ministry actions including a failure to 
answer questions regarding the future of the northern oil 
fields, importing water from Iran, government corruption, and 
a lack of transparency in tenders. 
 
10. (SBU) Twenty-three of the 49 Kuwaiti MPs signed a formal 
request in mid-February for a parliamentary committee to 
probe allegations that state-owned Kuwait Petroleum 
Corporation (KPC) officials and a private Kuwaiti 
company--Altanmia Commercial Marketing Co.--profited 
improperly from a deal with Kellogg Brown & Root, a 
subsidiary of US oil services giant Halliburton, to supply 
fuel to the Iraqi market under contract to the US military. 
The request calls for a four-member committee of lawmakers to 
launch an investigation into the deal.  Al-Barrak said the 
parliamentary probe was needed because the MPs do not trust 
senior KPC officials to send to the judicial inquiry all the 
documents pertaining to the alleged "scandal."  MPs want to 
investigate whether any waste of public funds occurred, or 
any officials profited illegally. 
 
(U) On Yemen 
--------------- 
11. (SBU) Al-Barrak and liberal nationalist MP Ahmad 
Al-Mulaifi are considering grilling Foreign Minister Shaykh 
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah regarding his supposed failure to 
pursue with Yemen allegations that Yemeni President Ali 
Abdullah Saleh advised Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait just 
before the recent US-led invasion of Iraq. 
MPs voted 31 to 19, in mid February, to assign the Foreign 
Relations Committee to investigate the matter.  PM Shaykh 
Sabah, in an effort at transparency, urged the National 
Assembly to ask the committee to launch a fact-finding 
mission into the accusations.  Sabah stated the panel should 
investigate and be granted vast powers if it finds anything 
relevant.  Al-Barrak, who claimed that President Saleh gave 
the advice in January 2003, raised this issue in the 
parliament last October.  Yemen has officially denied the 
allegations. 
 
12. (SBU) The GOK does not want to risk damaging its ties 
with Yemen, diplomatically restored only five years ago after 
strains stemming from the 1990 Iraqi invasion.  Al-Barrak 
told MPs on 16 February that he has a document that will 
prove that Shaykh Mohammed did nothing to investigate the 
issue.  MPs in December refused to pass two technical 
cooperation agreements between Kuwait and Yemen, apparently 
because of their unhappiness over the issue.  Yemen,s 
Speaker Abdullah Al-Ahmar reportedly sent a letter to his 
Kuwaiti counterpart last month urging him to put an end to 
verbal attacks by MPs against President Saleh, accusing 
Al-Barrak of lying. 
 
(U) Other Possible Matchups 
------------------------------ 
13. (SBU) There are several other grilling efforts bubbling 
just under the surface.  It is unknowable whether these will 
gain traction in the months to come, but there is no shortage 
of reporting in all of the local dailies about parliamentary 
criticisms of GOK ministers. 
 
- The Health Minister, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Jarallah, is 
under fire from Islamists of all stripes, including one Shia, 
and from one liberal government-leaning MP.  The key charges 
include medicine shortages, unpopular and unjustified 
personnel appointments, medical mistakes, financial and 
administrative violations, and lax security leading to the 
kidnapping of newborns from a maternity hospital. 
 
- The Popular Action Bloc wants to tackle Mohammed Dhaifallah 
Sharar, Deputy Premier, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs 
and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, as well 
as Minister of Finance Mahmoud Al-Nouri and Commerce and 
Industry minister Abdullah Al-Taweel over the Abu Fateerah 
project--in which state land was sold to a developer at 
bargain-basement prices outside proper competitive 
channels--and alleged violations at the Municipal Council. 
MPs are also teaming up against Sharar for alleged violations 
at the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries, for 
violating the principle of equal opportunity, and for 
mishandling public funds. 
 
- The Education Minister Dr. Rashed Al-Hamad is under siege 
for allowing music classes in the schools and "Westernizing" 
the educational curricula, and for the failure of educational 
strategies.  His detractors, all Islamists, are a mix of 
Salafi, Shia, and Independents. 
 
- First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Shaykh 
Nawaf Al-Ahmad--half brother to the Amir and the Prime 
Minister--and Communications and Planning Minister Shaykh 
Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmed are accused of election tampering. 
 
- Bader Al-Humaidi, Minister of Public Works and State 
Minister for Housing Affairs is being criticized for 
violations in appointments. 
 
- Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Shaykh Jaber 
Al-Mubarak is under fire from Islamists and anti-government 
elements for failure to respond to questions on arms 
contracts valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 
(SBU) Shuffling and Dissolving 
------------------------------- 
14. (C) COMMENT:  Most everyone recognizes the deleterious 
effect these grillings are having on the daily business of 
running the country.  Since the National Assembly was 
established in 1963, none of the grilling initiatives have 
succeeded in ousting a minister, but a number of them have 
forced whole Cabinets to resign to avoid the embarrassment of 
losing a vote of no-confidence.  At this writing, Al-Nouri 
looks unlikely to keep his job.  A Cabinet reshuffle is the 
most likely next step, which could buy the Government time 
and see the newly reassigned ministers safely through to the 
summer recess. 
URBANCIC