Bahrain: 18th December 2006
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights
After manipulating the election of the Representative Council in order to weaken the Shiite and other opposition groups and empower the Sunni Brotherhood and Salafist Islamists:
- The King re-appoints his uncle as a prime minister despite his overt responsibility of corruption and human rights violations during more than 30 years,
- The King re-appoints his uncle as a prime minister despite his overt responsibility of corruption and human rights violations during more than 30 years,
- The Al-Khalifa ruling family conquers half of the ministerial positions, while appointing one minister from Al-Wefaq Society, this is seen as a cover up to the existing sectarianism.
- Re-appointment of the Minister accused of involvement in the al-Bandar Scandal, and continuation of implementing a dangerous sectarian policy.
Bahrain: 18th December 2006
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights
After manipulating the election of the Representative Council in order to weaken the Shiite and other opposition groups and empower the Sunni Brotherhood and Salafist Islamists:
Re-appointment of Prime Minister despite corruption and human rights violations
Despite the slogans of reforms and change that Sheikh Hamad bin Issa raised since he came to power in 1999, he countermarched the promises he made to surpass Bahrain as a symbol for highbred democracy. Instead he, as the King of Bahrain, re-appointed his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, as head of the Council of Ministers. Thus, Sheikh Khalifa will continue, as a Prime Minister to effectively predominate over the government since pre-independence in 1971. In addition to being responsible for many human right violations in the foresaid era, he also took over vast areas of public lands without any legitimate right, while he, for his power on both the commercial and government sectors, has collected a hefty amount of wealth. The Prime Minister has played a fundamental role in dismantling the first constitutional practice in 1975. He now exercises his decisive practical dominance over both judicial and legislative powers. He uses the security apparatus, the restrictive laws and judiciary to hinder the establishment and activities of the civil and political societies and the freedom of assembly, expression and press.
Meanwhile, the King enjoys the right to appoint members of the government, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Constitutional Court, half of the members of the National Assembly such that no legislation can pass in to law without the King’s approval.
Royal Family secures monopoly over the Cabinet
The Royal Family occupies 12 out of 24 positions in the new cabinet, among these positions are: the Prime Minister, the first and second Deputy to Prime Minister and the ministers of Foreign, Interior, Defense, Financial and Judiciary. The King re-appointed Sheikh Ahmed Atteyatolla Al-Khalifa as Minister of Council Affairs. Despite the public anger for his direct responsibility and involvement in the Bandargate Scandal, including a petition signed and raised by a hundred well-known political and religious figures to the King, and in spite of the visit by the highest religious Shiite leaders demanding the King to reveal the truth of the secret web-plan and to bring to the court of law those responsible for the Scandal.
The second half of the new cabinet includes six ministers from the Shiite sect, who come from families know to be historically loyal to the ruling family, and their roles entail formalities and do not possess any real authorities to disobey the power of prime minister. Hence, the appointed Shiite ministers make up only 25% of the new Government. This does not reflect in proportion to the majority Shiite density in Bahrain, and furthermore, it is the least percentage since the Independence of the country. This strictly reveals the Sectarian discrimination this regime propagates to secure the fulfillment of the highest and most sensitive positions in the government. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights publicized a report in 2004 revealing that Shiites were assigned only 18% of the 500 highest positions in the Government. In a mere pose and concealment to the truth, the Government created a tawdriness for the external press by appointing a Shiite Minister as Deputy Third to the Prime Minister and appointed a Shiite “liable” to Al-Wefaq Society as a State Minister for Foreign Affairs, while those are pony positions and do not hold any authority.
Parliament majority unfairly given to pro-government Islamists
This forming of the cabinet emerges after the election of the Council of Representatives. The Government succeeded to block Shiite and liberal political societies from having the majority in the new Council. This was ensured by enforcing unfair sectarian constituency districts and failing the liberal opposition candidates through General Voting Centers and subjugating the soldiers to vote to particular candidates or even voting on their behalf. The government also used the votes of tens of thousands of habitants and non-residents who were naturalized on sectarian basis and were also granted or privileged the instantaneous right of both candidacy and voting.
Thus, the Government secured the majority for loyal groups who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists (fundamentalists) to account for 55% of the new Representative Council. For this reason the Government has guaranteed its power over the new Council. As far as the appointed Shura Council, which shares legislative power with the Council of Representatives, they are only appointed on the basis of their loyalty to the ruling family. Despite Shiite loyalty, the Government did not allow the ratio of Shites to exceed 45%.
In the election, the Government supported candidates who were members of the Council, despite their names were revealed in the al-Bandar report as being involved in the secret web, or the Central Information Organization (CIO) which is the spine core of the Secret-Web administered in the electoral operation, and without any consideration to the remonstrations raised by public over the al-Bandar Scandal. The Government justified its action by claiming that the CIO is under the supervisory of the Judiciary which lacks independence. Moreover, two prominent members of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society who were involved in the Bandargate scandal have been appointed to the Shura Council. The official spokesperson for the Electoral Supreme Committee was also selected from the foresaid society. The official media also publicized the role of that society as an observer of the elections, though no external observers were permitted by the Government.
Royal Family’s sectarian policies threaten stability
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights fears that the policy of the ruling family based on oppression, monopolization of decision making, predominance over all authorities and resources of the country, resorting to the policy of discrimination and sectarianism, and paving the way for the fundamentalist Islamism, could further deteriorate living conditions and political and social stability. It may also lead to the deterioration of both the security and human rights situation. Or it might even agitate sectarian disputes that are already inflamed with the regional political sectarian situation.
The International Crisis Groups (ICG) report has warned of the negative impacts of the repressive policies and sectarian discrimination on Bahrain’s stability. To avoid the foresaid political upheavals, the report provided a number of important recommendations. However, the Government of Bahrain, instead of reviewing and implementing those recommendations, has worked in the opposite direction. This suggests that the Government is determined to implement the recommendations that was revealed in the Secret-Web plan of al-Bandar report; that is, to empower the Sunni Fundamentalist Islamist to use them for Sectarian purposes in order to engulf the Shiite opposition groups without any consideration to the violations and dangers that will stipulate as the result of implementing this policy.