HRH Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Prime Minister, met with the Cabinet to initiate the necessary legislative and legal measures aimed at achieving the political reforms that had been agreed upon and recommended by the participants of the National Dialogue held in July.
Key reforms include the shifting of the role of Chairman of the National Committee that presides over Parliament from the Upper House (the Shura Council) to the elected Lower House. In addition, the mapping of the voting districts themselves will be reviewed to make sure they fairly represent the voting constituencies. Further reforms that will affect Parliament are the implementation of stricter guidelines for appointments to the Shura Council and increasing the legislative and regulatory powers of the Lower House of Parliament. To this end the Cabinet has been informed that the Ministers’ presence will be required at Lower House Parliamentary sessions in an effort to promote transparency, monitor progress and expedite actions within respective Ministries.
It has also been recommended that the laws related to money laundering and funding illegal activities, as well as laws related to intellectual property and copyright infringement, be reviewed in order to align them with international standards.
Individual Ministry action plans include a directive to the Ministry of Education to establish a timeframe in which to achieve a more productive educational environment aimed at improving the quality of education; and a directive to the Ministry of Health aimed at improving health services through increasing the number of specialized health centers with the most current equipment for diagnostic and treatment protocols. The Ministry of Health is assessing the existing healthcare centers in order to make sure that they meet the current and projected healthcare needs in Bahrain.
“These actions highlight the government’s responsiveness to the concerns expressed by Bahrainis in the National Dialogue and represent a critical step in the process of ongoing reforms. The opening session of Parliament scheduled for October 9th will be historic in that more women than ever before will be serving in the Parliament that will now have greater powers,” an IAA official, said.