Politics of Bahrain
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Politics of
Political background
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Bahrain gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1971,[2] with Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa as its ruler. In 1972, Isa issued a decree for the election of a Constituent Assembly to draft and ratify a constitution. The electorate of the constituent assembly was native-born male citizens aged twenty years or older. The Constituent Assembly consisted of 22 elected delegates, plus the 12 members of the Council of Ministers and 8 members directly appointed by the Emir.[3] All elected candidates ran as independents.
The draft constitution enshrined the hereditary leadership on the Al Khalifa family and provided for a
A
Following the 1979
A popular uprising occurred between 1994 and 2000 in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces.[7] The event resulted in approximately forty deaths.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
The repression ended after Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999.[8] He instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote, and released all political prisoners.[9] A referendum on 14–15 February 2001 massively supported the National Action Charter,[10] which was adopted on 14 February 2002.[11]
An elected representative body was not reintroduced until the rule of Sheikh Isa's son, Sheikh
The Kingdom of Bahrain has been ruled by HM King Hamad bin Isa since 1999. The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain since the late 1700s. The current ruler Hamad bin Isa became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999. In 2002, he declared Bahrain a kingdom and installed the king.[12]
The reforms were based on the National Action Charter, a package of political changes that was endorsed by the people of Bahrain on 14 February 2001, in a popular referendum that saw a 98.4% vote in favour. Among other issues, the referendum paved the way for national elections and for the country to become a constitutional monarchy, changing the country's official name from the State of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Bahrain (a change which took effect in February 2002). Parliamentary elections took place on 26 October 2002 with the new legislature, the National Assembly, beginning work the following month.
The
However, the principle behind the Al Wefaq's boycott, that only elected MPs should have the right to legislate, was undermined when, in response to proposed changes to the family law to give women more rights, Al Wefaq stated Archived 2005-12-14 at the Wayback Machine that no one except religious leaders had the authority to amend the law because MPs could 'misinterpret the word of God.'
Democratisation has greatly enhanced clerical influence, through the ability of religious leaders to deliver the votes of their congregations to candidates. Sheikh Abdullah Al Ghraifi, the deputy head of the Islamic Scholars Council, gave a clear warning of the clerics' intent: "We have at our disposition 150,000 votes that we will forward to the MPs, and I hope that they understand this message clearly."[13] Over the showdown with the government and women's rights activists on the introduction of stronger legal rights for women, clerics have taken a lead in mobilising the opposition and threatened to instruct their supporters to vote against MPs that support women's rights.
The opening up of politics has seen big gains for both Shī´a and Sunnī Islamic parties in elections, which has given them a parliamentary platform to pursue their policies. This has meant that what is termed "morality issues" have moved further up the political agenda with parties launching campaigns to impose bans on female mannequins displaying lingerie in shop windows, sorcery and the hanging of underwear on washing lines. Analysts of democratisation in the Middle East cite the Islamic parties' references to respect for human rights in their justification for these programmes as evidence that these groups can serve as a progressive force in the region.
The near-total dominance of religious parties in elections has given new prominence to clerics within the political system, with the most senior Shia religious leader, Sheikh Isa Qassim, playing an extremely important role. According to one academic paper, "In fact, it seems that few decisions can be arrived at in Al Wefaq – and in the whole country, for that matter – without prior consultation with Isa Qassim, ranging from questions with regard to the planned codification of the personal status law to participate in elections".[14] In 2007, Al Wefaq-backed parliamentary investigations were credited with forcing the government to remove ministers who had frequently clashed with MPs: the Minister of Health, Dr Nada Haffadh and the Minister of Information, Dr Mohammed Abdul Gaffar.[15]
Bahraini liberals have responded to the growing power of
Both Sunnī and Shī´a Islamic parties suffered a setback in March 2006 when twenty municipal councillors, most of whom represented religious parties, went missing in Bangkok on an unscheduled stopover when returning from a conference in Malaysia [1] Archived 2006-05-24 at the Wayback Machine. After the missing councillors eventually arrived in Bahrain they defended their Bangkok stay, telling journalists it was a "fact-finding mission", explaining: "We benefited a lot from the trip to Thailand because we saw how they managed their transport, landscaping and roads."
The King created the Supreme Judicial Council in 2000 to regulate the country's courts and institutionalize the separation of the administrative and judicial branches of government. The King is the head of the council.
On 11–12 November 2005, Bahrain hosted the Forum for the Future bringing together leaders from the Middle East and G8 countries to discuss political and economic reform in the region.
Shia and Sunni Islamic parties have both criticised the government over the composition of the appointed Shura Council, after it was given a strongly liberal majority, with Al Meethaq being the biggest group in the chamber. Critics allege that the government is seeking to use the Shura Council as a liberal bulwark to prevent clerical domination of politics.
Dominated by Islamic and tribal MPs, liberals have criticised the lower house for trying to impose a restrictive social agenda and curtailing freedoms. Those MPs who do not have an Islamic ideological agenda have been criticised for tending to approach politics not as a way of promoting principles, but as a means of securing government jobs and investment in their constituencies. The only voices that regularly speak in favour of human rights and democratic values in the lower house are the former communists of the Democratic Bloc and the secular Economists Bloc.
Antigovernment factions state that the five municipal councils elected in 2002 do not have enough powers. Councillors of Islamic parties have repeatedly complained that their policies are being frustrated by lack of cooperation from central government. This has encouraged councillors to use at times innovative methods to push forward their policies. In January 2006, Dr Salah Al Jowler, an
In October 2005, Al Wefaq and the former
To revitalise the Left before the September 2006 general election, leading lawyer, Abdullah Hashem launched the
Bahrain's five governorates are administered by the Minister of State for Municipalities and the Environment in conjunction with each Governorate's Governor. A complex system of courts, based on diverse legal sources, including Sunni and Shi'a Sharia (religious law), tribal law, and other civil codes and regulation, was created with the help of British advisers in the early twentieth century. This judiciary administers the legal code and reviews laws to ensure their constitutionality.
Major
National security
External threats
Though juxtaposed between much larger neighbours, the tiny island Kingdom of Bahrain does not face any immediate threats from foreign nations. Likewise, it is not currently involved in any international disputes. In the recent past, however, relations between Bahrain and two other Persian Gulf states –
Insurgencies
The government of Bahrain does not face any immediate threats from individuals or organizations that seek to undermine its
Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa assumed the throne in March 1999 upon the death of his father, Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the ruler of Bahrain since 1961. He continued to implement democratic reforms, including the transformation of Bahrain from a hereditary emirate to a constitutional monarchy, and in so doing changed his status from emir to king. He also pardoned all political prisoners and detainees, including those who had been arrested for their unsubstantiated participation in the 1996 bombings as well as abolishing the State Security Law and the State Security Court, which had permitted the government to detain individuals without trial for up to 3 years.
In February 2011 a series of protests by the Shia majority began which became the
Terrorism
The government of Bahrain has actively cooperated with the international community in general and the
In 2005, Bahrain, as one of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), agreed to intensify coordination in the fight against terrorism in response to instability in the region. They called for a clear definition of terrorism so that it could be differentiated from other criminal activities or activities such as rightful struggles against the foreign occupation for example.
See also
- Bandargate scandal
- Human rights in Bahrain
- Bahraini uprising (2011–present)
References
- ^ "Bahrain Tourist Information – Manama Guide". Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ Jehl, Douglas (7 March 1999). "Sheik Isa, 65, Emir of Bahrain Who Built Non-Oil Economy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d Bahrain, Federal Research Division, 2004, Kessinger Publishing, pp 97 – 98
- ^ Talbott, Strobe (25 October 1982). "Gulf States: Stay Just on the Horizon, Please". Time. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ^ Darwish, Adel (1 March 1999). "Bahrain remains stable despite arson attacks that took place in the country". The Middle East.[dead link]
- ^ "The Rich/Poor & Sunni/Shiite Rift". APS Diplomat. 18 March 2002. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ Darwish, Adel (March 1999). "Rebellion in Bahrain". Middle East Review of International Affairs. 3 (1). Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ^ Malik, Adnan (14 December 2002). "Bahrain's monarch opens parliament after a span of nearly 30 years". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012.
- ^ "Bahrain: Promising human rights reform must continue" (PDF). Amnesty International. 13 March 2001. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
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(help) - UNDP-Programme on Governance in the Arab Region. 2011. Archived from the originalon 10 May 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "The Kingdom of Bahrain: The Constitutional Changes". The Estimate: Political and Security Analysis of the Islamic World and its Neighbors. 22 February 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ Bowen, Lance (January 2023). "Länder Med Monarki | 2021". sv.ripleybelieves.com.
- ^ "Shiite council warns MPS who support family law | GulfNews.com". www.gulfnews.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ Voices in Parliament, Debates in Majalis, Banners on the Street: Avenues of Political Participation in Bahrain Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Katja Niethammar, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, 2006
- ^ Bahrain ministries' probe to continue Gulf News, 25 September 2007
- ^ "In Fear of Transmitting the Tunisian and Egyptian Demonstrations to Bahrain: Blocking a Facebook Group that Calls People to go Down the Streets and Demonstrate against the Authority's Policy". Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. 2011-02-06. Archived from the original on 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
External links
- Kingdom of Bahrain eGovernment Portal
- Chamber of Deputies (Lower house of parliament)
- Shura Council (Upper house of parliament)
- Bahrain Government at Curlie
- Bahrain's private sector opens the door to political participation, Daily Star (Beirut), 22 February 2006
- Generational change and elite-driven reforms in the Kingdom of Bahrain. (Sir William Luce Fellowship Paper No. 7) Dr Steven Wright (2006) the Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of Durham, (PDF Format)
- Why neither of Bahrain’s political groups is favourable?