US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT1912

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001912 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KWMN, KU, WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: PRIVATE POLL IN KUWAIT REVEALS MAJORITY OF MEN 
SUPPORT WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1091 
 
     B. 04 KUWAIT 4540 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Political up-and-comer Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah 
Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah (ref B) provided the Ambassador with the 
results from a poll he commissioned indicating 50% of Kuwaiti 
men back full political rights for women. Another 28% support 
women's right to vote, but not pursue elected office, while 
22% oppose women's political participation to any degree. The 
results mirror those of other surveys (ref A). The poll was 
conducted in March, just weeks after the start of the GOK 
push for women's political rights. 
 
2. (C) The poll reveals a positive correlation between men of 
a certain age and support for women's rights. Among men 45 
and older, 67% back women's suffrage while that number drops 
to only 38% for those under 30. Sixty-one percent of those 
with a monthly salary of at least 2,000KD ($6,920) approve 
while those with less than 800KD ($2,770) back the measure by 
41%. Level of education had a minor impact on the results, 
with support from high school drop-outs to university 
graduates hovering around 50%. The survey indicates that 43% 
of men believe women's political rights are contrary to 
Islamic shari'a. Of those who oppose women's suffrage, 50% 
believe that new political liberties will lead to neglect of 
the family. 
 
3. (C) Shaykh Mohammed reported that this poll is one of many 
he has commissioned on a variety of political and social 
topics. The Pan Arab Research Center, the local affiliate of 
Gallup International, conducted the private poll, sampling 
approximately 2,000 Kuwaiti men. The GOK did not publicly 
release the poll results. The young Shaykh further told us 
that, despite his best efforts, polling data has negligible 
impact on senior ruling family members. 
 
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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website 
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LEBARON