Chairman of the Human Rights Committee (from Nov 2015)
Member of Permanent Committee for Public Utilities and Environment (from Oct 2015)
Member of the Rotten Meat Investigation Committee (established Feb 2015)
Member of the Investigative Committee on Unregistered Foreign Workers (March 2015)
Member of Mumtalakat Investigation Committee (April 2015)
Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs (Nov 2014 – Oct 2015
By winning chairmanship of the Parliament Human Rights Committee in November 2015, Al-Qaseer has been put in a highly visible position. There is an expectation from other MPs that Al-Qaseer must take the lead in this role in defending Bahrain’s reputation overseas.
During the first few months of the new Parliament, Al-Qaseer was the Deputy Chairman on the Financial Committee, making him a significant voice on governance and financial issues.
However, during the 14 October vote concerning membership of the Finance Committee for the new parliamentary term, Isa al-Kooheji, Khalid al-Shaer and Nasir al-Qaseer were all voted off the Committee after a substantial number of MPs lobbied for changes to the membership of this Committee. Parliamentary sources told the media that Al-Kooheji wand Al-Qaseer were seen as not having been sufficiently tough with ministers in negotiations over the State Budget in previous months.
Al-Qaseer has often stressed the importance of job creation and living standards. During the 2 July 2015 vote on the State Budget, Al-Qaseer strongly spoke out in support of the need to pass the Budget.
ACTIVITY DURING 2015-2016 PARLIAMENT SEASON
Housing, services & infrastructure
Housing: Al-Qaseer on 31 Oct said that families benefitting from the Bilad al-Qadeem housing project would be receiving the keys for their new homes in December.
Good governance & public finance
Subsidies: Al-Qaseer on 14 Oct called for the Govt to move forward on subsidies reform in a manner which secured suitable standards of living for the public. He noted that large companies and non-Bahrainis shouldn’t be benefitting from subsidies.
Audit report: Al-Qaseer on 14 Nov was an interview guest on the Inside Parliament programme on Bahrain TV. He explained procedures for following up the Financial Audit Bureau report in Parliament.
Policing & regional security
Terrorism: Al-Qaseer on 29 July condemned the killing of two policemen in Sitra saying that these attacks sought to create disunity and discord. Al-Qaseer on 25 Aug condemned terrorist incidents in Muharraq. Al-Qaseer on 29 Aug strongly condemned the Al-Karranah bombing which killed one policeman. He said that this “exposed the cowardly face of terrorism”.
Iran: Al-Qaseer on 23 July condemned statements by the Iranian leadership concerning Bahrain. He noted that such comments and threats had recurred repeatedly. He noted the recent foiled Iranian attempts to smuggle weapons into Bahrain.
On 2 Oct Qaseer voiced his support for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador, after the discovery of a bomb-making factory in Bahrain linked to Iran and other recent hostile Iranian acts.
Travel: Al-Qaseer on 19 Nov praised the Justice Ministry’s initiative for an electronic process for notifying those banned from travel abroad.
Rights & freedoms
Human Rights Committee: Reports over recent weeks have indicated that up to 15 MPs were competing for the five seats in the parliamentary Human Rights Committee. There were criticisms that the Committee, formerly led by Khalid al-Shaer, hadn’t been sufficiently assertive in promoting Bahrain’s human rights record on the world stage. After failing to reach agreement, the matter came to a vote during the 10 November parliamentary session. New members, Majid al-Asfour, Abdulrahman Bumjaid and Nasir al-Qaseer were voted in, with 25, 22 and 20 votes respectively.
Al–Qaseer said that his Committee on 23 Nov discussed a proposal which obliged the Govt to have a holistic strategy for dealing with the human rights reports produced by foreign NGOs.
Parliament role & constituent engagement
Committees: During the 14 October vote concerning membership of the Finance Committee for the new parliamentary term, Isa al-Kooheji, Khalid al-Shaer and Nasir al-Qaseer were voted off the Committee with only ten votes, ten votes and 15 votes respectively. During the same vote, Jalal al-Mahfoudh won 37 votes, Mohammed al-Ammadi won 36 votes, Abdulrahman Bu-Ali (selected as the Chairman of the Finance Committee with Al-Mahfoudh as his deputy) 35 votes, Adel Bin-Hamid 34 votes, Majid al-Asfour 31 votes, Ahmed Qaratah 28 votes and Ali Bufarsan 25 votes.
Affiliation: According to several media sources on 13 October, around 13 MPs are moving to form a parliamentary bloc. These included Jalal al-Mahfoudh, Ghazi Al Rahmah, Nasir al-Qaseer, Khalid al-Shaer, Adel Bin-Hamid, Majid al-Majid, Majid al-Asfour and Jamila al-Sammak. On 14 November 2015 Hamad al-Dossary announced that he had been selected as the leader of a new bloc, with Adel Bin-Hamid as his deputy. Al-Qaseer was one of the declared members.
ACTIVITY DURING 2014-2015 PARLIAMENT SEASON
Housing, services & infrastructure
Services: Al-Qaseer questioned the Ministry of Social Development on 7 March about its provisions for his 5th Capital constituency.
Planning: On 6 April Al-Qaseer questioned the Minister of Works about planning and categorization of new areas of housing.
Housing: On 30 April the Housing Minister responded to a question from Al-Qaseer concerning numbers of housing allotment requests in his constituency and the progress made on housing units for constituents.
Standards of living, health & education
Food security: Al-Qaseer on 4 May said that the “Rotten Meat” Committee, having received a number of responses from the Government regarding its queries, had decided to embark on a number of fact-finding visits.
Ramadan supplies: Al-Qaseer on 7 May stressed that government ministries must make preparations to sure ample provisions of food supplies for Ramadan.
Meat subsidies: Al-Qaseer on 21 May said: Be totally sure that we will not take any decision which is not in the interests of Bahraini citizens and the benefits due to them. However, the Council of Representatives will not stand against the reorganization of public spending”. Al-Qaseer said that Parliament was willing if necessary to use its powers to halt the cancellation of meat subsidies, but added that “we have to concentrate on our priorities in a realistic manner”.
During the 26 May parliamentary discussion, a majority of MPs spoke out against the Govt’s plan for halting meat subsidies. Al-Qaseer said: “We are dumbfounded, because the Finance Minister promised us that no decision would be taken without consulting deputies. However, it is obvious that the Government is trying to divert our attention so we don’t focus on the Budget.”
Economy & employment
Unregistered workers: Al-Qaseer on 8 April said that the Committee for discussing unregistered workers had discussed a number of proposals, after consulting numerous official bodies.
Visas: Al-Qaseer praised recent amendments to Bahrain’s entry visa regime for encouraging visitors. (7 April)
Good governance & public finance
Audit report: Nasir al-Qaseer in early January said that six to eight weeks would be needed to properly discuss the audit, after which there would be discussion of action to be taken about parties implicated in any financial impropriety. Al-Qaseer said that there would be “no let-up in taking tough positions against any instances of corruption in government institutions.
Al-Qaseer told the media that the abuses found in the Financial Audit Bureau’s annual report were a “dangerous signal” for the wastage of public funds. He stressed that deputies should take firm action to address this. (19 January)
During the 14 April parliamentary debate concerning the annual Financial Audit Bureau report, Al-Qaseer said that his Financial Committee had studied the report and found 51 violations “with a criminal suspicion”.
Minister interrogation: During the 5 May parliamentary session an insufficient number of MPs voted in support of interrogating the Health Minister over issues raised in the Audit report (23 supported, below the 2/3 quota of 27 MPs).Al-Qaseer voted in favour of the interrogation.
Financial Committee: Al-Qaseer on 25 February said that the Committee had discussed the previous Parliament’s decision on the national debt and would recommend abiding by the position of the previous Parliament. He said that the committee had also discussed additional privileges for pensioners and proposed measures for ensuring the compatibility of financial dealings with Islamic principles.
Al-Qaseer said that on 2 March the Financial Committee had discussed the Shura Council’s observations on the proposed National Debt bill. However, after comparing the positions of the Shura Council and Ministers, Al-Qaseer said that his Committee had decided to abide by the position of the previous Parliament’s Committee on the proposals. He said that the Committee has also listened to proposals from MPs on the issue of payments to low income families to counter the effects of inflation.
Public debt: Al-Qaseer on 21 March told the media that the Finance Minister was due to meet MPs to discuss reasons for raising the national debt. Al-Qaseer said that the parliamentary Finance Committee was ready to listen to the Minister’s justifications, but was unlikely to alter its opposition to further increases in public debt.
According to Al-Watan on 14 May Al-Qaseer was one of the 20 MPs who said that they would give conditional support to raising the debt ceiling to 7bn BD.
Budget: On 5 April Al-Qaseer praised the Prime Minister’s recent comments about the necessity of close coordination with the Parliament and ensuring that the rights and benefits of citizens are not removed in the forthcoming budget.
MPs’ benefits: On 12 May, Parliament voted to delay two weeks the vote on modifying retirement payments for MPs. Al-Qaseer cited the 2011 by-election MPs who weren’t entitled to benefits and having lost their seats were now unemployed. However, he said there was no need to raise the ceiling level for benefits.
Shura bonuses: Al-Qaseer on 18 May, along with Jamal Buhassan, Hamad al-Dossary, Jamal Dawoud and Muhsin al-Bakri; submitted a private bill proposing that a 1,200 BD bonus for Shura Council members be cancelled, particularly after the reduction in relative importance of the Shura Council in the light of the 2012 constitutional amendments.
Policing & regional security
Terrorism: Al-Qaseer on 9 May condemned the attempt to smuggle explosives into Saudi Arabia across the Causeway.
Youth, culture & sport
Sports: Jalal al-Mahfoudh, Nasser al-Qaseer, Khalid al-Shaer, Osama al-Khajah and Ibrahim al-Hammadi on 23 May proposed that a tax on tobacco be used to fund sports clubs. They noted that the proposal came following consultation with a number of sporting bodies.
Parliament role & constituent engagement
Delegation: Al-Qaseer on 24 April during a delegation to Brussels stressed the importance of widening ties between the GCC and the EU Parliament.
Effectiveness rating
- Standards of living, health & education – 3
- Housing & services – 5
- Policing & regional security– 4
- Good governance & public finance – 7
- Economy & employment – 5
- Supporting constituents & youth – 4
- Rights & freedoms – 6
- Constructive Parliament role – 4
- Public visibility – 4
- Progressive/reformist credentials – 6
Results of 2014 elections – 5th Capital
Areas covered: Bilad al-Qadeem, Zinj, Salmaniya, Segaiya, Mahooz and Abu Asheera
Housing blocks: 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 334, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364
Registered voters: 7,782; Percentage 1st round voter turnout: 32.3%
First round vote:
Nasser al-Qaseer – 821 (36.0%); Wafa Ajoor – 523 (22.9%); Adel Al Safr – 368 (16.1%); Mamoud al-Hamar – 143 (6.3%); Hussain Bukhamas – 118; Kadhim al-Uwaynati – 117; Ibrahim al-Awadhi – 96; Basimah Saleh – 64; Rashad Umar -32
Second round vote:
Nasser al-Qaseer – 1047 (55.6%)
Wafa Ajoor – 836 (44.4%)
Profile of election campaign: Nasser Abdulridha Mohammed Ali al-Qaseer
In a vigourous first-round campaign Nasser al-Qaseer consistently came through as one of the more consistent campaigners, although he himself may be surprised at the strength of his support in the first round vote; having seen off rivals like businessman Adel Al Safr, who seemed to have far greater campaign funds available.
Nasser al-Qaseer is a prominent advocate for strengthening Bahrain’s sporting achievements. His sporting roles include being treasurer of the Basketball Association. “The current situation requires change, in terms of increasing standards of living and improving oversight and legislation;” Al-Qaseer told Al-Ayam newspaper.
Al-Qaseer said his priorities are job creation, “increasing the economic and social rights of women”, and in particular the housing issue. He said he would address housing through “increasing the role of the private sector in implementing housing projects, speeding up the rate of construction, accelerating housing transfers, and cancelling the condition of linking the wages of spouses”.
Sitting MP Abdulhakim al-Shamari had been the obvious front-runner in this contest, until a legal complaint from a rival about Al-Shamari’s main address being outside the constituency led to a court decision to remove Al-Shamari from the contest.
Constituency demographic
The inclusion of several opposition strongholds made this sector an unpredictable one, particularly given the recent boundary changes which mean that this district is an entirely new creation from several former districts.
The 32.3% first round turnout can be considered low, given the intensity of the campaigning in this district.
Know your deputy: MPs profiles
Adel al-Asoumi – 1st Capital
Chairman of Permanent Committee for Public Utilities and Environment
Ahmed Qaratah – 2nd Capital
Adel Bin-Hamid Abdulhussain – 3rd Capital
Abdulrahman Bumjaid – 4th Capital
Nasser al-Qaseer – 5th Capital
Chairman of Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
Ali al-Atish – 6th Capital
Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Shari’ah and Legal Matters
Osamah al-Khajah – 7th Capital
Shaikh Majid al-Asfour – 8th Capital
Mohammed Jaffar Milad – 9th Capital
Nabil al-Balooshi – 10th Capital
Ali Bufarsan – 1st Muharraq
Ibrahim al-Hammadi – 2nd Muharraq
Jamal Buhassan – 3rd Muharraq
Isa al-Kooheji – 4th Muharraq
Mohammed al-Jowder – 5th Muharraq
Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Foreign, Defence and National Security Affairs
Deputy-Chairman of Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
Abbas al-Madhi – 6th Muharraq
Ali al-Muqla – 7th Muharraq
Abdulrahman Bu-Ali – 8th Muharraq
Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Financial and Economic Matters
Fatimah al-Asfour – 1st Northern
Deputy Chairwoman of the Committee for Women and Children
Jalal Kadhim al-Mahfoudh – 2nd Northern
Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Financial and Economic Matters
Hamad al-Dossary – 3rd Northern
Deputy Chairman of Committee for Youth and Sports
Ghazi Al Rahmah – 4th Northern
Chairman of Committee for Youth and Sports
Ali al-Aradi – 5th Northern
Deputy Chairman of Parliament
Rua al-Haiki – 6th Northern
Chairwoman of the Committee for Women and Children
Shaikh Majid al-Majid – 7th Northern
Dr. Isa Turki – 8th Northern
Abdulhamid Abdulhussain al-Najjar – 9th Northern
Mohammed al-Ammadi – 10th Northern
Chairman of Committee for Supporting the Palestinian People
Jamal Dawoud – 11th Northern
Jamila al-Sammak – 12th Northern
Khalid al-Shaer – 1st Southern
Mohammed al-Ahmed – 2nd Southern
Abdulhalim Murad – 3rd Southern
Second Deputy Chairman of Parliament
Mohammed al-Maarifi – 4th Southern
Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Services
Khalifa al-Ghanim – 5th Southern
Anas Buhindi – 6th Southern
Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Shari’ah and Legal Matters
Abdullah Bin-Huwail – 7th Southern
Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Foreign, Defence and National Security Affairs
Dhiyab al-Noaimi – 8th Southern
Mohsin al-Bakri – 9th Southern
Deputy Chairman of Permanent Committee for Public Utilities and Environment
Ahmed al-Mulla – 10th Southern
Chairman of Parliament