US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4378

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004378 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KISL, KDEM, KWMN, SOCI, KU 
SUBJECT: STUDENT UNION ELECTIONS: A MICROCOSM OF POLITICS 
IN KUWAIT 
 
REF: KUWAIT 4313 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary and comment: The Islamic Alliance, a 
partnership between two student parties affiliated with the 
Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis, swept Kuwait University's 
(KU) Student Union elections held in October.  The Muslim 
Brotherhood has dominated the influential Student Union, 
which represents KU students to the faculty and 
administration, since 1979.  Other political associations in 
Kuwait also actively support student parties, which are seen 
as a fertile recruiting ground and a platform for spreading 
political ideologies.  In an October 9 article published in 
Arabic-language daily Al-Seyassah, Director of the Center for 
Strategic and Future Studies at KU Dr. Shamlan Al-Essa said 
the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated student association, the 
Coalition Group, gains students' support by providing a 
variety of services to students throughout their university 
career and even beyond.  One faculty member said the 
13-member Student Union wields more influence with the 
administration than the Faculty Association and was 
influential in pushing a gender separation policy in 
classrooms.  He also said the student groups receive 
financial support from political associations and/or their 
wealthy parents.  Dr. Ibrahim Hadban, a moderate Islamist 
political science professor, highlighted the active role 
played by female students and suggested this indicated women 
would vote independently in national elections. 
 
2.  (SBU) Elections at the university are a microcosm of 
politics in Kuwait, representing both the major political 
trends and the reliance of many Municipal Council and 
National Assembly members on political support derived from 
providing services to their constituents.  In a recent visit 
to KU, Poloff observed campaign posters from the main student 
groups plastered all over the campus, attesting to the 
vibrancy of political debate at the university and Kuwait's 
potential for an open, democratic political system.  Student 
elections also may also foretell which groups might dominate 
national elections if the Government implemented major 
political reforms.  (End summary and comment.) 
 
Gender Separation, Women's Rights, and More Cafeteria Space 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) Five student parties participated in the recent, 
hotly-contested elections for Kuwait University's Student 
Union: the Coalition Group, Islamic Unity, the Free Islamic 
Movement, the Independent Group, and Democratic Circle. 
While running separately in college-level elections, two of 
the parties - the Coalition Group and Islamic Unity, which 
are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the 
Traditional Salafis, respectively - partnered in the Student 
Union election to form the Islamic Alliance and campaigned on 
the same ticket.  The 13-member Student Union represents the 
university's more than 20,000 students to the faculty and 
administration and wields considerable influence on campus. 
The elections are held on a winner-take-all basis: all 13 
members of the union come from the winning student group. 
Election campaigns focus largely on national rather than 
university issues.  In the recent elections, candidates 
debated over issues ranging from the role of Islam in society 
to support for women's political rights to the need for more 
cafeteria space.  The Islamic Alliance dominated this year's 
elections, receiving 5097 votes (3038 female and 2059 male), 
or 48.4% of the 10526 votes cast.  (Note: 5816 females and 
4710 males voted in the Student Union elections.  End note.) 
 
4.  (SBU) Several female members of the Muslim 
Brotherhood-affiliated Coalition Group told Poloff they 
supported gender separation in classes and women's political 
rights.  The group's pamphlets claimed the Islamic Alliance, 
to which the Coalition Group belongs, represents 50% of KU 
students.  The Coalition Group has won the Student Union 
elections every year since 1979; many of its former leaders 
are now active in Kuwait politics. 
 
5.  (SBU) The Salafi-affiliated Islamic Unity party espouses 
moderate Islamic ideology and supports democracy, the group's 
election pamphlets stated.  The pamphlets also highlighted 
the services provided by the group, which included: "parties, 
meetings, summits, a student prayer area, a photocopy center, 
computer training, and exhibitions." 
 
6.  (SBU) Rival student parties represent the political 
spectrum in Kuwait and are backed by various political 
movements in the country.  The second-largest student party, 
the Independence Group, is a moderate Islamic party supported 
by Kuwait's merchant families.  Female members of the group 
told Poloff they supported women's political rights, but 
opposed gender separation at the university.  They also 
emphasized the need for more cafeteria space on campus.  The 
group's campaign pamphlets highlighted the group's opposition 
to tribalism and sectarianism, support for equality and 
cooperation in the Arab world, and belief that "Islam is the 
way to all our answers."  The Independence Group received 
2781 votes (26.4% of the total), 1150 female and 1631 male, 
in the recent elections. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Female students from the liberal Democratic Circle 
said they were opposed to gender separation in classes, but 
supported women's political rights.  Election pamphlets 
highlighted the group's respect for other ideas, its support 
for equality, freedom, and human rights, and the need for 
national unity.  "Our group's main target is to avoid 
discrimination and extremism and to treat everyone the same 
way, regardless of their tribe, religion, or family," the 
pamphlets stated.  The Democratic Circle received 1363 votes 
(13% of the total), 890 female and 473 male, in the recent 
elections. 
 
8.  (SBU) The Free Islamic Group promotes equal rights for 
Kuwait's minority Shi'a population and received 1285 votes 
(12.2% of the total), 738 female and 547 male, in the recent 
elections. 
 
Bringing the University to Mohammed 
----------------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) In an October 9 article published in 
Arabic-language daily Al-Seyassah and entitled, "Why Do They 
Win,' Director of the Center for Strategic and Future Studies 
at KU Dr. Shamlan Al-Essa argued the Coalition Group's 
popularity on campus derives from the services it provides to 
students.  In exchange for their votes, the Coalition Group 
assists students with resolving administrative issues, 
researching school projects, and even finding internships and 
post-graduation employment, Al-Essa said.  In addition, new 
students are recruited to join the Coalition Group by members 
of the Social Reform Society, the charity arm of the Muslim 
Brotherhood in Kuwait, as soon as they enroll in the 
university.  Al-Essa suggested this aggressive strategy was 
why students who were active in the Student Union "have now 
become Undersecretaries, Assistant Undersecretaries, National 
Assembly Members, and senior members of the Islamic 
Constitutional Movement and Islamic banks." 
 
10.  (SBU) "The Student Union has more influence with the 
administration than the Faculty Association," Vice Dean for 
Student Affairs and President of the University Faculty 
Association Dr. Ajeel Al-Zaher told Poloff.  He cited as 
evidence the Student Union's successful push to require 
separate lecture times for male and female students, which 
was approved by the National Assembly in 1996 despite the 
Faculty Association's objections.  (Note: The university was 
given five years to implement the law.  According to 
Al-Zaher, approximately 80% of university courses now have 
separate lecture times for male and female students.  End 
note.)  Al-Zaher also said the student groups receive 
financial support from political movements in Kuwait and/or 
their wealthy parents. 
 
11.  (SBU) Political Science Professor and columnist Dr. 
Ibrahim Hadban downplayed the ideological dimension of the 
Student Union elections in an October 9 meeting.  "Today, the 
student groups are not radically different from each other," 
he said.  "Even Islamist groups, who used to pray piously 
when they won elections, celebrate loudly with music and food 
when their candidates are elected," he commented.  Student 
groups are more like "sports teams," he added.  Hadban 
highlighted the active role of female students in the student 
elections and said he saw this as an indication that women 
would vote independently in national elections and would not 
be pressured to vote for particular candidates by their male 
relatives. 
 
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