21 – 27 May
The big political story in Bahrain this week has been the Government plan to cancel subsidies on meat and replace these with cash handouts to Bahraini citizens.
This news was received badly by most MPs, firstly because they hadn’t been informed in advance of this proposal; and secondly because the cash handouts – according to media reports – would add up to relatively small amounts of money.
During the 26 May weekly session MPs voted to delay a debate on this issue until the following week, so that ministers would be present – then they went ahead and spent most of the session discussing meat subsidies anyway!
All MPs who spoke declared themselves opposed to the proposals. Many MPs conceded that there was a need to restructure the system of subsidies, to make it more affordable, and to ensure that these were targeted at Bahraini citizens.
There are differences in views between some MPs who say that such funds should be available only for lower income families, and other MPs, like Majid al-Majid and Abdulhalim Murad, who stressed that all Bahrainis had equal right to such support.
What many MPs were most angry about was the fact that only a few days before, the parliamentary Finance Committee had met the Finance Minister who – according to MPs – had pledged that no measures would be taken which would result in cuts of benefits to citizens, and that no such decisions would be taken over subsidies and benefits without consulting Parliament first.
The Government has indicated that meats are the first product to be addressed in a gradual package of measures concerning other subsidized goods. Below are some representative examples of comments by MPs during the weekly session:
Adel Bin-Hamid: “The Government’s way of dealing with us is unacceptable. The Government should stop its statements about cooperating with us. The Government’s announcement of halting subsidies marginalizes us in the Parliament and infringes on the benefits of citizens.”
Mohammed al-Ahmed: “Any decision for redistributing support is illegal and unconstitutional because we have not approved the Budget yet. Three days before the issuing of this decision by the Cabinet, the Finance Minister said that any decision for redistributing support would not happen without consulting deputies… The Government has let us down before the nation”.
Osama al-Khajah: “We completely reject the halting of subsidies on meat, based on these tiny sums of money announced by the Ministry for Social Development”.
Jalal al-Mahfoudh: “It is as if the Government is trying to twist our arm because we didn’t agree to raising the ceiling for borrowing”.
Muhsin al-Bakri: “We believed the promises of the Government about citizens not being adversely affected by the removal of subsidies. Are the payments – that one is embarrassed to mention – even true? 5BD to citizens and 3.5 BD for the wife?”
Mohammed al-Ammadi: “We have grown used to the Government dropping a bomb on us at this time of year…the Budget is being debated in one corner and this decision is then issued in another corner for the sake of diverting the attention of public opinion and Parliament… If this does not stop, we will withdraw from Parliament”.
Al-Asalah criticized for sectarian language
During a Parliament Bureau meeting on 20 May attendees discussed the issue of parliament employees sacked from their posts during the 2011 unrest.
The Salafist political society Al-Asalah in a statement strongly condemned comments attributed to Deputy Head of Parliament Ali al-Aradi during this meeting, in which he reportedly called for compensation for affected employees. Al-Asalah called this a “dangerous and dramatic development in the Parliament Bureau”.
Al-Asalah’s statement said: “This is another hideous role played by those who demonstrated their ill-intentions towards the country, the legislative authority and the Bahraini citizens in a wicked manner to cover up their treacherous designs in front of the media in an endeavour to – silently and quietly – spread treason and defend traitors”. Al-Asalah expressed its “dismay” towards Parliament Chairman Ahmed Al-Mulla, who presided over the meeting, for keeping silent.
Numerous MPs, including Khalid al-Shaer and Adel Bin-Hamid have defended Al-Aradi and Al-Mulla and criticized the Al-Asalah Society.
Bin-Hamid criticized Al-Asalah for “casting doubts over national loyalty of others and accusations using all manner of offensive descriptions just because of differences in positions and opinions”.
A number of civil society groups, legal figures and other prominent personalities have also strongly criticized Al-Asalah. Al-Ayam on 24 May reported many of these reactions, including comments from a group of lawyers looking into whether there were grounds for action to be taken against Al-Asalah.
Political societies law
Members of Bahrain’s Shura Council have proposed changes in the law banning political societies from having members who are active religious preachers.
Amendments were previously made to prevent MPs from simultaneously holding a parliamentary seat and preaching in mosques. However, the proponents of this draft bill pointed out that some religious societies had relied on others to “exploit religion and explanations of its teachings of what is good and evil to serve narrow political interests”.