Bahraini.TV

Parliament adjourned after noisy scenes

by mahmood on 02/04/08 at 9:41 am

Atiyatallah questioning issue dominates weekly session

The Atiyatallah affair continued to plague the Chamber of Deputies when the issue came up yesterday after prolonged deliberations, but the House was adjourned after noisy scenes were witnessed over the modality of how the matter should be taken up.

When the House assembled for the weekly session, Al Wefaq stayed out following the Chair’s reluctance to grant permission to question the Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Shaikh Ahmed bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa.

Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani, Chairman of the Chamber, had included the item on the agenda, but wanted it to be taken up by the Services Committee as opposed to Wefaq’s demand of referring it to the Public Utilities and Environment Committee.

The PUC head, Jawad Fairooz – who brought up the issue – and other members of Wefaq expressed unhappiness. After prolonged discussions following the impasse, it was decided to take up the issue at the end of the day.

A pacified Wefaq walked into the House. Shaikh Ali Salman, leader of Wefaq in the Chamber, suggested that the questioning issue be taken up at next week’s session. Differences of opinion, however, cropped up on how the issue should be taken up in the House.

Wefaq wanted that the issue be listed on the agenda under the Public Utilities Committee and seek a vote of approval for the committee to take it up before the discussion. Wefaq members contended that the matter could be shifted to the Services Committee if the vote fell through.

However, as the debate continued on how the minister should be questioned, MP Shaikh Jassim Saeedi said the House had rules and regulations for all MPs and it was essential to follow them. Accordingly, any MP wanting to address the House had to take the permission of the Chair. This led to an uproar following which Al Dhahrani adjourned the House.