The democratic process in Bahrain will continue, and the parliamentary elections will be held on time. The saboteurs will be prosecuted for their actions, while the instigators accused of being behind the terror plot that was uncovered and announced by the security services will be tried on charges of inciting subversion and terrorism. On the 20th of August, the New York Times published an important report whose title insinuated that the security measures in Bahrain hint at an end to reforms. I read similar reports in other Western newspapers, which captured my interest. I subsequently called Bahraini officials, prior to the uncovering of the terrorist plot and afterwards, and they all confirmed to me that the reforms will continue. I then met with the Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed in London, and went over the details of the issue with him. Sheikh Khalid reiterated to me what I heard from other officials over the phone. The reforms will continue and the elections will be held on time. The Al-Wifaq [Accord] Movement announced that it will run in the elections, with known Shiite candidates, while there is no intention at all to shut down the Parliament, or prevent any citizen from running in the elections. The minister also said that dissent is a right to all citizens in any democratic country, but that this is one thing, and that sabotage is an entirely different thing. Bahrain has no significant oil reserves, and its economy relies on services and tourists, and when a dissenting minority engages in subversion, people become fearful, the country's economy is affected and everyone loses. The recent sabotage went beyond burning some tires and heckling in a market, to acts that border on terrorism such as the arson in the Sitra power station that threatened to cause a local environmental disaster, the attacks by masked men against citizens, and now the charges of plotting terrorist attacks. The foreign minister told me that King Hamad bin Isa always spoke of the rule of law and that no one is above the law, and added that to their credit, the views of the Shiite leaders are positive, and that they are not opposed to the authorities. Yet, there are no detainees in prisons with the exception of the terrorists who were arrested, and those accused of incitement include individuals such as Dr. Abdul Jalil Singace, whose name is as strange as his allegiance, and the same applies to the other defendants whose pictures were published. I had never heard of most of them, even after I asked non-governmental sources. There is a need for reform in Bahrain at every level, and the demands for reform are hence just. But what does the call for regime change mean? An Iranian Ayatollah and Wilayat al-Faqih? The Al-Wifaq movement adheres to the principles of Wilayat al-Faqih, and I do not condemn them for anything because they are entitled to their opinions. However, I hope that allegiance always lies with one's country, and if there must be a religious leadership, then this would be most definitely in the Najaf, not Qom. I remember from the early 1970s that the United Nations surveyed the opinion of the Bahrainis on the eve of independence, and found that an overwhelming majority of them was in favor of independence. If I recall correctly, Imam Muhsin al-Hakim called on the people of Bahrain from Najaf back then, to reassert the Arab identity of Bahrain. In fact, King Hamad bin Isa consulted his people time and again over this outgoing decade. There were thus the referendum on the National Action Charter, the 2002 elections which Al-Wifaq boycotted and in which a simple majority of the citizens participated, and the 2006 elections that saw the participation of Al-Wifaq and which have now expired. It should be mentioned here that Bahrain's parliament includes 18 members from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis (Sunnis), and 17 members from the Shiite group Al-Wifaq, in addition to five independents. On 1/5/2007, I wrote in this column that the Bahraini parliament includes along with a moderate minority that wants the best for the country and its people, a fundamentalist majority from both sects that knows nothing about the democratic process except vetoing laws. Currently, there is even political debauchery and a minority that calls for democracy through terrorism. What sparked my outrage at the time was the fact that as I left Bahrain carrying an issue of Al-Ayyam newspaper, I saw on its front page a news story that the parliamentary ‘commission of inquiry' will prosecute all the activities of the Cultural SPring event, not just the ‘Madman of Layla'. I also read another story which mentioned that King Hamad had appointed the woman judge Duha Zayani as a member of the Constitutional Court, becoming the first woman to serve in the highest court in the country. Thus, the king moves forward, while the parliament prosecutes Qays and Layla, even though their love is strictly platonic. Does King Hamad allow me to tell him that he has made a mistake? Since the known subversive incidents of 1999, there have been 13 royal pardons. But I believe the saboteurs and the instigators have misinterpreted the King's clemency, so I hope that I will not hear of another pardon by him because the subversive and seditious minority can only have respect when they have fear, and I also hope that I will see more necessary reforms from him. While Lebanon is not a good example to follow, as we have second, third and even thirtieth allegiances, we also have an old example with a successful ruler: Prince Bashir al-Shihabi severely oppressed his uncle Youssef, Sheikh Bashir Jumblatt (Amoud el-Sama) and the entire family of Baz. When the people criticized him, he said the following words which were to become famous: unjust governance is better than lax governance. I do not call King Hamad to any injustice, as he would never perpetrate anything of the sort, but I call on him to pursue the reforms and put all the defendants under the rule of law. [email protected]
