Cablegate: Kuwait Media Reaction: Iraqi Elections

VZCZCXRO8016
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #5288 3621412
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281412Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2352
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KUWAIT 005288

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PA, NEA/PPD, INR/NESA
LONDON FOR TSOU
PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO KDEM KMDR IZ KU

SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION: Iraqi Elections

Ref: Kuwait 5166

1. Summary: Kuwaiti daily newspapers provided coverage on
Iraqi elections, praising the process and the peaceful
manner in which it was carried out. The courage of the
people going to the polls was also praised and they were
seen as heroes in their own right. However Mr. Al-Ghabra,
writing for the moderate daily Al-Rai Al-Aam, was not so
optimistic in his view of the elections. End Summary.

Block Quotes
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2. Wednesday, December 28, 2005

-- Under the title "Iraq after the elections," Dr. Shafiq
Nazem Al-Ghabra (writer and President of the American
University of Kuwait) wrote in the moderate Arabic-language
daily Al-Rai Al-Aam: "The Iraqi elections gave
contradictory results on many levels. On one level it was a
vote for the sect to which Iraqis belong. The Shiites voted
for Shiites, the Sunnis voted for their parties, and the
Kurds voted for the Kurds. Each group voted for its own
people and only a small few voted for a united Iraq. This
is evidence pointing to the current situation in Iraq that
is based on identity and divisions. As such, we find that
democracy in Iraq served to divide the country and we can
now conclude that despite the landslide victory of the
united Shiite coalition, it will not be able to solve the
Iraqi problem when forming the next government. It would be
correct to assume that the coalition will offer liberal
Shiites and Kurds key posts in order to win over those
protesting the results of the elections from the different
groups. Forming a balanced government in Iraq is now
possible if wisdom and balancing policies were to prevail,
and not those of crushing other groups that represent a
major part of society during this fragile stage of building
a new Iraq."

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