US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4933

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINR, KDEM, SOCI, KU, SUCCESSION 
SUBJECT: PM TRIES TO CALM SUCCESSION FEARS; INSISTS AMIR 
AND CROWN PRINCE WILL REMAIN IN POSITIONS 
 
REF: KUWAIT 4264 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Matthew H. Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) 
 and (d) 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary and comment: In an effort to silence 
continued speculation over succession, Prime Minister Shaykh 
Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in a November 22 interview, 
firmly dismissed the possibility that either the Amir or the 
Crown Prince, both in poor health, would step down from their 
positions.  Other Kuwaiti officials, including the National 
Assembly Speaker and the Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 
quickly backed his statements.  PM Shaykh Sabah also paid a 
rare visit to National Guard Chief Shaykh Salem Al-Ali 
Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the leading member of the Salem branch and 
a vocal family critic.  National Assembly members' (MPs) 
recent appeal for a resolution of the succession issue 
appears to have prompted the Prime Minister's comments.  Some 
observers have argued, however, that PM Shaykh Sabah's 
insistence on the Crown Prince remaining in his position is 
unconstitutional.  Critics (accurately) point out that the 
Succession Law stipulates the Crown Prince be removed from 
office when he can no longer perform his official duties. 
 
2.  (C) PM Shaykh Sabah's recent statements, while unlikely 
to completely silence public speculation on succession, 
indicate the Al-Sabah's preference for letting "nature take 
its course," as one ruling family member recently confided to 
Poloff.  Salem family members may still chafe at control by 
the Jaber lineage of key political positions, but are 
significantly weakened and unable to alter the current 
distribution of power, as evidenced by statements attributed 
to Shaykh Salem Al-Ali in support of the Prime Minister.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
Government Message: Amir and CP Will Remain in Positions 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
3.  (SBU) In response to mounting criticism of the ruling 
family,s dispute over succession, Prime Minister Shaykh 
Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah firmly stated that the "icons of the 
ruling family will stay and won't be replaced by anyone as 
long as they are alive" in a November 22 interview with the 
Arabic-daily Al-Seyassah.  Leading government officials 
quickly echoed his statements.  National Assembly Speaker 
Jassem Al-Khorafi confirmed that "the Crown Prince will stay 
in his place and there are no intentions for the ruling 
family to change that," local media reported November 27.  He 
added, "We have declared allegiance to the Al-Sabah 
family...and there are no differences whatsoever regarding 
the relationship with the ruling family." 
 
4.  (SBU) Kuwait's Ambassador to the UK, Khaled Al-Duwaisan, 
also highlighted the "unique and important social contract" 
between the Al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti people during a November 
25 seminar.  Almost daily pictures in local newspapers of the 
Crown Prince meeting with top government officials have 
further underscored the illusion that he continues to perform 
his official duties.  (Note: Such pictures were rarely 
published before the Crown Prince returned from medical 
treatment in London on October 19 amidst renewed public 
debate over succession.  End note.) 
 
5.  (C) During a November 27 meeting on other issues, the 
Ambassador queried Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary 
Khaled Al-Jarallah on the public debate on succession and the 
Prime Minister's calls for unity and comments that the matter 
had been resolved.  Al-Jarallah asserted that PM Shaykh Sabah 
expressed the "spirit of the Kuwaiti people" when he said 
that there is no such thing as a "former Crown Prince" or a 
"former Amir." 
 
PM Visits Outspoken, and Apparently Bested, Family Critic 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
6.  (SBU) In an apparent attempt to smooth over family 
differences, PM Shaykh Sabah met November 22 with National 
Guard Chief Shaykh Salem Al-Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabah, whose call 
for the creation of a three-member committee to assist in 
ruling the country touched off the most recent controversy 
over succession and publicly aired ruling family divisions 
over future leadership (reftel).  Local media reported that 
"sources close to the ruling family" said Shaykh Salem Al-Ali 
appreciated the Prime Minister's efforts to end "needless 
talk in the country and the region."  Shaykh Salem Al-Ali 
also reportedly told PM Shaykh Sabah in a telephone 
conversation, "May Almighty Allah bless you for your great 
efforts to unite the family.  You have succeeded in confining 
the affairs of the ruling family to its members and prevented 
them from being discussed publicly."  (Comment: It is telling 
 
KUWAIT 00004933  002 OF 002 
 
 
that these statements were not attributed to Shaykh Salem 
Al-Ali directly.) 
 
Parliamentary Pressure Prompts PM Shaykh Sabah,s Comments 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
7.  (SBU) National Assembly members, impassioned appeals for 
a resolution of the succession issue likely prompted PM 
Shaykh Sabah's recent comments.  During the National 
Assembly's November 15 session, Chairman of the Foreign 
Affairs Committee MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager appealed to the 
Amir "to swiftly resolve the crisis."  He added, "What is 
happening is not in the interest of the family or Kuwait. 
Compromise within the family will stabilize the country." 
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, 
and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Mohammed 
Dhifallah Sharar said, "The situation of the royal family 
disturbs the stability of the nation."  Moderate Islamist 
Shi'a MP Hussein Al-Qallaf added, "We need decisive decisions 
to resolve the situation, which is neither healthy or 
appropriate." 
 
Not Everyone Convinced 
---------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) Some observers have argued that PM Shaykh Sabah's 
insistence that the Crown Prince remain in his position is 
unconstitutional.  Al-Sager, despite his appeals for a speedy 
resolution, said November 26, "I differ with Shaykh Sabah as 
the Succession Law stipulates how the Amir and Crown Prince 
would step down in certain circumstances and the 
law...prevails."  In a November 26 article in the 
Arabic-daily Al-Qabas, liberal lawyer and columnist Imad Saif 
wrote that the Prime Minister's statements "clash with the 
constitution....The recent position of Shaykh Sabah on the 
affairs of the ruling house contributes considerably to 
freezing the process of change and development and the 
launching of a comprehensive political reform process."  In 
the same issue, liberal lawyer and columnist, Abdul Latif 
Al-Duaij, wrote, "The statements by Shaykh Sabah did not only 
include freezing or suspending the Succession Law, but went 
beyond the acceptable or even the debatable." 
 
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TUELLER