US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT1808

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KWMN, KU, WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: KUWAITI WOMEN'S MUNICIPAL POLITICAL RIGHTS REMAIN 
IN LIMBO; MAY 2 VOTE INDECISIVE; POSSIBLE RE-VOTE MAY 3 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1633 
     B. KUWAIT 944 
     C. 04 KUWAIT 4540 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (U) Summary: The results of the second round of 
Parliamentary voting May 2 on an amendment to the Municipal 
Law granting women political rights at the municipal level 
were 29 in favor, 2 against and 29 abstentions, sparking a 
debate as to the actual outcome. Some MPs claim a quorum was 
not reached since the yes and no votes did not total 33, one 
vote more than half of the 64-member Parliament. Others 
assert the measure failed since, according to constitutional 
law, a quorum was reached but the equal number of yes votes 
and abstentions caused an outright failure. The same measure 
had passed during the first round April 19 by a vote of 26 to 
20 (ref A). A re-vote may take place as early as May 3 
although the date, like the actual outcome of the May 2 vote, 
remains uncertain. End summary. 
 
The Vote Itself 
--------------- 
 
2. (U) Twenty-nine votes, by 12 Ministers and 17 MPs, were 
cast in favor of giving women Municipal Council political 
rights while two MPs voted against the bill. The 29 
abstentions, mainly composed of opposition and 
"pro-Government" MPs, forced Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi to 
declare a "suspended" vote. Some MPs claimed the lack of 33 
yes and no votes constituted a lack of quorum. Others 
asserted the proposal failed outright as there were more than 
33 total votes, although there was an equal number of yes 
votes and abstentions resulting in a failed vote according to 
the Constitution. (Note and comment: There are currently 50 
MPs and 14 Ministers; however, Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer 
is also an elected MP, permitting him to cast only one vote 
for a total of 63. Reportedly 60 Assemblymen voted May 2 
while another four were absent for a total of 64, which 
conflicts with Post's calculation. End note and comment.) 
Women's rights activist Rola Dashti told EmbOffs the GOK 
instructed pro-government MPs to abstain, fueling speculation 
that either the GOK wasn't serious about passing the measure, 
or that the GOK knew it would not have enough votes to pass 
and decided to scuttle the vote to avoid a defeat on the bill. 
 
3. (U) Two Ministers, Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer and Social 
Affairs and Labor Minister Faisal Al-Hajji, and two MPs, 
Issam Al-Dabbous and Walid Al-Osaimi, were absent. Minister 
Al-Hajji is out of the country on business, and MP Al-Osaimi 
is in a London hospital recovering from an apparent stroke in 
late April. Salafi Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer, however, 
openly opposes women's political rights, but the reason for 
his absence is unknown. Baqer's absence could give the 
impression that the Prime Minister is allowing dissent in his 
cabinet and therefore may not be as serious as he claims 
about the issue of women's political rights or that Baqer and 
the PM were avoiding an embarrassing public display of their 
differing vies on the issue. 
 
4. (U) Female Kuwaiti observers were noticeably absent from 
the visitors' gallery. Poloff counted approximately 20 women 
compared to the hundreds who attended the March 7 session 
requesting expedited consideration of granting women's 
suffrage (ref B). Dashti was the only one donning blue, the 
adopted color of the Kuwaiti women's rights movement, with 
the "women are Kuwaiti too" t-shirt. She mentioned that women 
had become frustrated with the process but requested updates 
via text message. The session opened in the morning with a 
GOK motion to allow discussion on the Municipal Law before 
that of a proposed public sector salary increase. The measure 
failed 26 to 32. Once the Municipal Law amendment vote 
approached in the early afternoon, a shouting match erupted 
between MP Waleed Al-Jari and the Speaker who accused the MP 
of intentionally delaying the vote by repeatedly interrupting 
calls to initiate the roll call tally. After the Speaker 
announced that the measure had not passed, applause broke out 
in the chamber. 
 
GOK Officials Uncertain of Outcome 
---------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Chairman of the Assembly's Foreign Relations 
Committee, and strong supporter of women's rights, MP 
Mohammed Al-Sager told the Ambassador in an initial call 
after the vote that he wasn't clear on exactly what had 
happened. He characterized the government's position as "a 
boxer hit in the head and almost knocked out."  He added, "I 
don't think the Government did its homework. It's a draw." 
Al-Sager asked for an hour to collect more precise 
information and called back with the following: 
 
--The 29 abstentions don't figure in the final count, and the 
result is that there was no quorum. The issue will be 
discussed again tomorrow, May 3. If the Government puts 
pressure on the MPs, it can pass tomorrow. However, there are 
two views of what happened May 2: 1) the measure failed and 
2) there was no quorum. There will be a very big debate about 
the procedural/constitutional issues stemming from the May 2 
vote. The Government wants to pass the amendment; they are 
eager to do it, but the government is weak. "Imagine that all 
the 'pro-Government' MPs are against them."   Shaykh Sabah 
"almost begged" them to support the measure when he should be 
ordering them to vote in favor of the GOK position. 
 
6. (C) The Ambassador also queried Under Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs Khalid Jarallah about GOK views on the result. 
Jarallah asked for some time to consult and got back to the 
Ambassador two hours later with these observations: 
 
-- The conclusion from today's vote was that the Government 
failed to pass the measure; there was no question about that. 
The Government succeeded in getting agreement from both sides 
that they would vote again later on, maybe tomorrow, but 
maybe next week.  The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister 
left to attend a wedding in the UAE.   (Note: Jarallah didn't 
say when they would return, but he seemed to indicate that 
the vote would be postponed at least until next week.) 
 
When the Ambassador observed that the vote today seemed to be 
not a good sign for the future of the issue, Jarallah said, 
"I agree with you, it is not a good sign; it's a very bad 
sign." 
 
7. (C) Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the 
eldest surviving grandson of late Amir Shaykh Mubarak the 
Great (ref C), told the Ambassador April 30 that the GOK was 
one vote short of passing the amendment. Some MPs, he added, 
offered to vote in favor were the GOK to approve a pay raise 
for civil servants and cancel old electricity bills for 
citizens. This price, according to Shaykh Mohammed 
Al-Abdullah, was simply too high. He also predicted an 
attempt to postpone June's Municipal Council elections, 
allowing women time to register to vote, would fail despite 
winning approval in the April 19 Assembly session. Shaykh 
Mohammed Al-Abdullah mentioned that he attended an event 
recently in Farwaniya, 15km south of Kuwait City, during 
which Kuwaiti women expressed a greater interest in a 
government salary increase and the right to own 
Government-granted property than in the right to vote. With 
respect to full political rights, Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah 
does not believe women will obtain them this year. 
 
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LEBARON