ArchivesTag : parliament
Ministers summoned over ‘immoral tourism’
Manama Four ministers have been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating alleged immoral activities in Bahrain’s tourism sector.
The ministers of interior, culture and information, municipality affairs and industry and commerce will on Monday present their views to the five-member committee formed last week by the lower house.
The committee looked into charges of malpractices [...]
«التقرير الاستراتيجي البحريني 2009»: عامل الطائفية في تصاعد
كشف «التقرير الاستراتيجي البحريني 2009» عن تصاعد عامل الطائفية في البحرين في الأعوام الأخيرة، الأمر الذي جعل تفسير الكثير من الأحداث من منظور طائفي، بحسب التقرير.
وأكد التقرير وجود 12 قضية مهمة طُرحت خلال العامين 2008 – 2009، تقدمتها: البيئة، الجامعات الخاصة والتعليم العالي في البحرين، حرية الصحافة، البطالة، وغيرها.
ولفت إلى أن المشهد الداخلي «يتأثر بعاملين [...]
Hotels vice probe ordered by MPs
AN URGENT inquiry into the scale of prostitution in Bahrain was launched by parliament yesterday. MPs said vice was rife in the country’s hotels, furnished apartments and nightspots – with one blaming it for the divorce rate soaring to 40 per cent.
They voted to set up their own inquiry after Culture and Information Minister Shaikha [...]
Baby deaths blamed on bad planning
AN MP yesterday blamed Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer for the growing death rate of premature newborn babies due to bad planning.
Sayed Jameel Khadim said that current specialised ICU facilities at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) were below international standards, where there were shortages of beds as well as insufficient numbers of nurses [...]
Islamists seeking to curb prostitution fail in bid to ban women from 4 countries
A proposal by a conservative Bahraini political bloc to ban women from four countries from entering the country did not make the grade among Bahraini lawmakers but raised quite a few eyebrows when it was offered up.
The conservative Al Asala bloc proposed that Bahraini authorities stop issuing visas to Russian, Thai, Ethiopian, and Chinese women [...]
Embassies silent on visa rule clampdown
Foreign embassies in Bahrain yesterday refused to be drawn into a row over whether tougher visa rules should be brought in for women from certain countries.
It follows calls by a group of MPs on Tuesday for a clampdown on women coming in from Thailand, Ethiopia, Russia and China in a bid to tackle prostitution.
The proposal [...]
Health Ministry rejects MPs’ hospital jibes
MPs’ claims that a Bahrain maternity hospital was not fit enough to deliver animals, let alone babies, were denied by the Health Ministry yesterday.It claimed in a statement that although the Sitra Maternity Hospital was old, it was still up to the mark.
“The ministry’s planning department has decided there is no use spending a large [...]
Bahrain’s Opposition Bloc Comes Under Attack By Political Societies
Bahrain’s largest opposition bloc has come under scathing attack by a political society, which has slammed its 17 Shia MPs for working ‘ for their own benefit rather than national interest.’
Lawmakers from Al Wefaq bloc ( Conservative Shia) recently backed a government draft law on retirement pension for MPs, which has now become a bone [...]
Ban on workers ‘will spell misery’
All Bangladeshis could be expelled from Bahrain by the end of this year if a proposal by a group of local MPs is approved by parliament, it emerged yesterday.
The proposal by Al Asala bloc follows the death of a Bahraini who was killed in an attack after an argument with a Bangladeshi mechanic at a [...]
Minister cleared by MPs
Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Minister Mansoor bin Rajab – who had been accused of financial, administrative and constitutional irregularities – was cleared by a parliamentary committee yesterday.
The minister appeared before parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee two weeks ago to face accusations of illegal business activities, as well as irregularities in the allocation of ministry [...]
Action call after minister cleared
Opposition MPs yesterday threatened action after a parliamentary committee cleared a minister of masterminding a cover-up.
Cabinet Affairs Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa had always denied keeping Bahrain’s population explosion a secret.
However, he was let off the hook yesterday by a parliamentary committee, which decided no action should be taken against him.
Three of seven [...]
Talks suspended over ’sorcery’ row
Parliament suspended discussions on criminalising “sorcery and witchcraft” yesterday, after a row erupted between an MP and government officials.
MP Ibrahim Busandal accused Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa of disregarding Islamic laws, which he said call for the death penalty against “sorcerers and witches”.
Shaikh Khalid told MPs that there was [...]
Deputies seek law to curb sorcery
“Bring me a person caught practising sorcery who is capable of bringing the evil spirit,” the Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Khalid bin Ali Abdulla Al Khalifa, told the Chamber of Deputies yesterday.
“The minister’s words are unconstitutional,” Al Asala Deputy Ibrahim Mohammed Bousandal said.
It all began when Al Wefaq MP Mohammed Youself Maezal told [...]
All clubs ’should be banned from serving alcohol’
MPs want all clubs and societies to be banned from serving alcohol or allowing its consumption at their premises, facilities and events.
Parliament yesterday approved the bill proposed by a group of MPs, despite reservations from Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, who said that laws which regulate such activities were already existing.
“We already take [...]
Hypnotised by Haifa hoopla
Lebanese singing sensation Haifa Wahbe performed at Gulf Hotel last night in a show which had faced stiff opposition from certain quarters.
Wearing a demure green dress, she came on stage a little after 11 thanking everyone for support and performed in front of hundreds of fans.
Admitting to feeling some apprehension she said: “I hope I [...]
