19 – 25 Mar 2015
A majority of 30 MPs defied the Finance Minister during the 24 March weekly parliamentary session and voted against raising the public debt ceiling to seven billion Bahraini dinars, setting the stage for a difficult tug of war between the Parliament and the Cabinet in approving the annual State Budget in the coming weeks.
Along with a number of other measures under discussion; the weekly parliament session this Tuesday conducted an open debate concerning recruitment of Bahraini teachers, as well as issuing a strong statement condemning Iranian interference in the region.
Curtailing public debt
The parliamentary Finance Committee, headed by Isa al-Kooheji, had itself initially recommended that Parliament reject a rise in the debt ceiling.
However, following an intervention by Finance Ministry officials, Isa al-Kooheji and others from the Committee unsuccessfully called for the proposal to be sent back to the Finance Committee for further discussion.
Twenty-eight MPs (versus five) rejected sending the proposal back for further consultation, after which an overwhelming majority of MPs voted against an increase in the debt ceiling to 7bn BD.
MPs took turns to echo their fears that Bahrain was getting into “dangerous” levels of debt. During the session, the Finance Minister argued that by limiting public borrowing this would limit spending on projects which would benefit the public.
These moves make it likely that parliamentary debate over the State Budget, which will shortly be issued, will be a difficult and divisive affair. MPs have high expectations for increasing public welfare in many areas, in a context of limited available funds to cover essential areas of spending.
Iranian interference
Parliamentarians voted in favour of a strong statement criticizing Iranian interference in Bahrain and calling for international bodies to take measures to “curtail Iranian meddling and restrain its imperialist urges”.
The Parliament demanded that the Islamic Republic should “immediately withdraw from Arab states which Iran has occupied, like Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and most recently, Yemen”.
Recruiting Bahraini teachers
MP Jalal al-Mahfoudh led the 24 March open parliamentary debate on Bahraini teachers. He showed the Minister of Education CVs for 376 Bahraini teachers who he said had been rejected by the Ministry which had preferred to recruit foreign teachers.
The Minister responded that is was often a question of whether applicants were sufficiently qualified, or the need to fill temporary gaps at the beginning of a school year.
There was a mix of responses from MPs during the debate, some of whom strongly advocated the need for prioritization of Bahraini teachers, while others claimed that the Ministry’s record was actually very strong in this regard.
It should be noted that the prioritization of Bahrainis for employment has become a major issue for many MPs in this current Parliament. MP Jamila al-Sammak has recently been outspoken about unemployment among skilled Bahraini medical staff and many MPs have been quick to point out how clauses in new proposed laws may impact preferences for foreign labour over Bahraini labour.