US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2015 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, PGOV, PHUM, KU, PDEM, FREEDOM AGENDA 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT FREEDOM AGENDA: PRIME MINISTER'S SON 
ADVISES QUIET REFORM PUSH 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 1. (C) Summary: Shaykh Nassar Al-Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, 
the son of the Prime Minister and an advisor to the premier, 
advised the Ambassador to push the U.S. political reform 
agenda quietly in political circles rather than publicly. The 
Ambassador questioned Shaykh Nassar on the intentions of 
Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in the 
upcoming legislative session. End summary. 
 
Electoral Reform: "We Should Address It and Tackle It" 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
2. (C)  On reform, Shaykh Nassar said that he was in favor of 
a reduction in electoral constituencies from the current 
twenty-five to five or ten, which he maintained would reduce 
corruption and vote-buying. "That really can push Kuwait 
forward," Shaykh Nassar said. (Note: Under the current 
electoral system, parliamentary candidates have needed less 
than 1,000 votes in some districts to win a seat in the 
National Assembly. Recent elections have sparked numerous 
allegations of tribal caucuses that pre-selected candidates 
destined for victory, as well as wholesale vote-buying. End 
note.) Shaykh Nassar said that three years ago, he had 
written a report calling for a reduction from 25 to ten 
electoral districts, and promised us a copy. 
 
3. (C) The Prime Minister was in favor of such a reduction, 
Shaykh Nassar indicated, but that the issue was now in the 
hands of the National Assembly, where discussions but no 
action occurred during the last legislative session. Shaykh 
Nassar explained that the Prime Minister delivered his 
reduction plan to Parliament, and left it there. "That's not 
right," Shaykh Nassar said of such hands-off behavior. "I 
think we should address it and tackle it." 
 
"It Will be Much Stronger if You Whisper it" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
4. (C)  The Ambassador asked how he could best assist the GOK 
to enact political reforms, which he said included not only 
the reduction in constituencies but also the legalization of 
political parties and the passage of a press law that 
liberalized libel law and the rules for newspaper ownership. 
Shaykh Nassar, while acknowledging that that U.S. support for 
reform was helpful, cautioned against public statements by 
the Ambassador and other U.S. officials. He contended that 
U.S. support was far more effective expressed privately, as 
it was during the campaign for women's political rights. 
"It'll be much stronger if you whisper it," Shaykh Nassar 
advised. "Let Shaykh Sabah take the credit," he added. 
 
Getting Information About Reform into the Mix 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) In order to encourage discussion about reform and 
provide good advice to decision-makers, the Ambassador 
suggested a nine-month "Distinguished Lecturer" series, to be 
sponsored by the American-Kuwaiti Alliance (AKA), a private 
group of prominent Kuwaiti businessmen dedicated to improving 
bilateral relations led by Yousef Al-Ebrahim, the Prime 
Minister's Economic Advisor and a former Minister of Finance, 
and strongly supported by Shaykh Nassar. Such an effort would 
propel debate about reform, harness outside expertise and 
move the agenda forward. Shaykh Nassar seemed willing to 
entertain the idea, asking at the meeting's conclusion, 
"Where do we go on this?" Ambassador subsequently passed the 
idea in writing to other American-Kuwaiti Alliance figures. 
 
"He Has Accepted Me as an Advisor" 
---------------------------------- 
 
. (C) Shaykh Nassar, a liberal, pro-reform businessman and 
world-reknowned collector of Islamic art, began the meeting 
by clarifying his status as a formal advisor to his father, 
the Prime Minister: "He has accepted me as an advisor." 
Shaykh Nassar explained that together with Economic Advisor 
Al-Ebrahim, he was busy organizing the Prime Minister's team 
of advisors into a coherent structure. He acknowledged that 
at times the Premier had received conflicting advice from 
various sources, but said that he was working on formalizing 
the advising process and making it more efficient. 
 
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LEBARON