Crown Prince chairs Cabinet meeting; elections, prospective MOUs and significant initiatives discussed
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister today chaired this week’s cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace, during which a range of important issues were discussed, focusing on the Kingdom’s commitment to participatory elections and other significant initiatives that underline the Kingdom’s status in the region.
During the meeting, the Cabinet highlighted that the Kingdom’s commitment to the elections is built upon the foundation of universal suffrage and is enshrined in Bahrain’s constitution.
The Cabinet further emphasised that acts of violence directed towards electoral candidates will never succeed in deterring the Kingdom’s pursuit for continued democratic development, which recognises the importance of strengthening parliamentary institutions, rule of law and freedom of expression.
The Cabinet went on to condemn the recent violent and targeted intimidation campaign directed towards electoral candidates, and stressed Bahrain’s commitment to respond to such violence within the strict guidelines that protect the rights of both voters and candidates to participate in the elections.
The Cabinet then commended the efforts of the Ministry of Interior for swiftly and effectively responding to these acts of violence which presented a serious threat to the security of the electoral candidates.
The Cabinet then went on to highlight Bahrain’s commitment to fostering innovation and creativity. In this regard, the Cabinet noted the importance of His Majesty King Hamad’s award for invention in demonstrating the Kingdom’s commitment to promoting creativity among the youth, as well as supporting scientific work and research in the region and across the world.
The Cabinet also discussed prospective MOUs between the Kingdom of Bahrain and regional and international partners, including the Kingdom of Thailand. In this regard, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince charged the Ministry of Follow up Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work to bring the agreements into effect in a swift and effective manner. This follows on from the instructions given by His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister to enhance all levels of bilateral cooperation with key partners.
On the success of the second Gulf Businesswomen Forum held under the patronage of Her Majesty the King’s wife and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the Cabinet emphasised the role this event played in supporting the Kingdom’s pioneering role to empower women across the region.
Moving on to recent developments in the Sinai Peninsula, the Cabinet expressed Bahrain’s strong condemnation of the cowardly acts of terrorism that have taken the lives of many Egyptians, and asserted that Bahrain joins international support for maintaining security and peace in the Sinai Peninsula.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince then charged the Ministry of Health to enhance coordination with the Crisis Committee, and stressed the importance of maintaining coordination with specialist international organisations to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from spreading to the Kingdom and the region.
A number of decisions were made during the weekly cabinet meeting, including:
1. The Cabinet reviewed a proposal outlining means to modify the pension benefits and privileges of new government ministers and approved a draft law to amend act 13 of 1975.
2. As part of devising effective laws to tackle trade disputes under strict guidelines that match international standards, and the Kingdom’s commitment to bolstering all levels of trade and bilateral links with regional and international partners, the Cabinet approved: (a) the draft law on commercial arbitration designed to attract more foreign investment into the Kingdom and subsequently the adoption of the UN’s 1985 commercial arbitration model (UNCITRAL) including all the amendments introduced to the model in 2006; (b) refer the draft law concerning civil and commercial disputes involving foreigner parties to the Executive Committee, led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, for further study.
3. The Cabinet reviewed the e-Complaints and Suggestions system (Tawasul), with a particular focus on the effective use of the e-Service by government entities to address all complaints and suggestions submitted by citizens.
4. The Cabinet approved an MOU which facilitates the establishment of a unified regional electricity market to further enhance a short and long term power infrastructure and encourage investments in power generation and transmission across the region.
5. The Cabinet approved an MOU between the National Authority for Qualifications and Quality Assurance for Education and Training in Bahrain and the UAE. The MOU aims to boost collaboration and coordination between the two institutions in Bahrain and the UAE.
6. The Cabinet welcomed the Gulf Regional Seminar, which will take place on 19-20 November 2014 in Bahrain. The forum targets the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) member agencies in the Gulf region with the aim to create collaborative links between European and non-European QA agencies and authorities.
