His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa described Bahrain’s growth, prosperity, security and stability as a prime concern, stressing resolve to stand firm against threats to national security.
He was speaking as he met at Gudaibiya Palace senior officials in the presence of Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Shura Council Chairman Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh and Representatives Council Speaker Khalifa Al Dhahrani.
HRH the Prime Minister vowed never to succumb to attempts to distract the government from its development programmes, criticising foreign media campaigns waged against Bahrain while keeping a blind eye to the reform initiatives spearheaded by His Majesty the King.
He said any Bahraini citizen really looking forward to reform can never deny the royal initiatives in this regard. However, those who steadfastly deny that are using reform as a pretext to achieve dubious objectives.
“We, in Bahrain, are not advocates of enmity and ill. We are rather committed to our rights and we will never relinquish citizens’ vis-à-vis law breakers,” HRH the Prime Minister pledged.
He described upgrading health services as the government’s top priority stressing continuous building of hospitals and health centres nationwide to ensure citizens have easy access to medical treatment.
He also underscored the government’s keenness to serve citizens, pointing out ambitious projects included in its work plan which should be revealed to the public.
His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, presided over a regular weekly Cabinet meeting held in Gudaibiya Palace on Sunday.
After the meeting, the Cabinet Secretary General Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser issued the minutes of the cabinet meeting.
On the occasion of the ratification by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on constitutional amendments, HRH the Prime Minister cited the significance of the constitutional amendments which confirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain’s ongoing reformation process is a path for life. HRH the Prime Minister accentuated that these amendments have been endorsed by the legislative authority in implementation of the views of the National Consensus Dialogue and boost the people’s participation and increases parliamentary supervision.
The Cabinet welcomed the boosting of its monitoring role over government performance according to the latest constitutional amendments dedicated to democratization which embody meaningful reformation and confirm that the Kingdom of Bahrain’s ongoing reformation process is non-stop under the prosperous reign of HM the King.
The Cabinet praised the content of the noble speech of HM the King on the occasion as it consisted of confirmation of the seriousness reformation and continuity throughout the phases of democratic progress. The cabinet described the amendments as a platform for concerted efforts to be put in by everyone who seeks reform to magnify national gains.
On the occasion of HM the King’s inauguration of the Al-Dur Power and Water Plant, the Cabinet emphasized that the Government remains committed to supporting industrial and investment projects and dedicated to beefing up the implementation of development plans in various areas which constitute a mammoth transformation in terms of high quality and efficacy of services provided to citizens.
The Cabinet denounced the persistence of some speechmakers in exploiting religious platforms for political purposes and their adopting of techniques aimed at provocation of violence and sectarianism and their calls for breach of law, abuse of constitutional institutions, tort and libel against the judiciary, destruction of national economy, attempting at imposing despotic views on all components of the Bahraini people.
The Cabinet asserted disallowance of hegemony by individualistic personality cult which excludes others as well as all practices in disrespect of diversity and propagation of divisionism amongst offspring of our unified nation.
Also, the Cabinet invites everybody to uphold their national and religious duty of dedicating religious platforms in order to promote the principles of citizenship and moderate speechmaking.
The Cabinet instructed all the relevant government ministries and authorities to take necessary legal actions in case such violations persist. The cabinet reiterated its absolute rejection of any procrastination with the country’s security and unity and the duty to protect national gains and preserve the higher interests and asserted that there shall be no immunity to anyone who violates national unity and security and that the role of mosques and religious platforms should be to congregate and to unite the people and not to segregate or disunite them and to promote spheres for peaceful co-existence.
HRH the Prime Minister praised the wisdom of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Monarch of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in containing the transient (diplomatic) crisis with the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt which reflects the deep insights and wisdom of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in addressing the issues of the nation whilst seeking the preservation of Arab unity and boosting Arab cooperation and future collective work.
The Cabinet praised the content of the speech of the Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister HRH Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud which confirmed the solid stance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the rest of GCC countries alongside with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s security and stability and supporting its efforts in tackling terrorism. The Cabinet also reviewed a report from Minister of Interior regarding outcomes of the 13th Consultative Meeting of the Ministers of Interior in the GCC countries which discussed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s project pertaining to creation of the GCC Police Authority and the view presented from the Interior Ministry pertaining to acts of violence and terrorism facing the GCC countries.
The Cabinet expressed surprise towards the persistence on the part of some people who adamantly cling to violence and terrorism as their methodology despite the freedom of expression and initiatives for dialogue and reform available to everybody.
The Cabinet condemned the continuous acts of terror which targeted security personnel on duty as they maintain law and order citing the latest terror bombing which took place in Bani Jamrah village and targeted security men whilst they were performing their duty. The Cabinet stressed that justice shall pursue the perpetrators of these criminal acts and that the law is capable of deterring and halting the perpetrators of such criminal acts which are objectionable according to good religious and moral ethics which have always been characteristics of the Bahraini community.
HRH the Prime Minister instructed all the relevant government ministries and authorities to expedite the maintenance of sports facilities and to restore them and complete projects under development in preparation for hosting the sports tournaments, championships and functions including the 21st All-GCC Cup scheduled to be hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain early next year.
The Cabinet welcomed the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra’s anticipated visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, praisging solid bilateral Bahraini-Thai cooperation relations and wished Her Excellency and her accompanying delegation a nice visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Cabinet endorsed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the friendly Kingdom of Thailand regarding food security, trade and investment in agrarian products, health and fish farming and referred them to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs for studying them from legal aspects. The cabinet considered its meeting agenda and passed the following resolutions in respect thereof:
FIRST: HRH the Prime Minister emphasized the Kingdom of Bahrain’s good record in preserving and respecting human rights, citing the Kingdom’s efforts in implementation of views of the National Consensus Dialogue and its implementation of BICI’s recommendations and asserted that the Government is committed to supporting and encouraging all efforts aimed at boosting human rights.
The Cabinet endorsed the formation of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s delegation for discussion of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s report for comprehensive periodic reviewing of the human rights situation and got informed about the second national report regarding overall periodic reviewing of human rights.
SECOND: The Cabinet endorsed a bill of law regarding adopting the use of National ID Card of a GCC citizen in transactions and applications before various governmental and private bodies in compliance with a resolution passed by the 32nd GCC Summit held in Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reliant upon a presentation from the Minister of Interior regarding a memorandum submitted in this regard. The cabinet tasked the competent authorities to take the necessary legal and constitutional actions for referring the matter to the legislative authority.
The Cabinet has issued a circular endorsing the National Identity Card as an official document and instructed governmental and private bodies to comply in the light of the provisions of Law No 46 for the year 2006 regarding Identity Cards issued on 30th July 2006 and its executive regulation issued under Resolution No 1 for the year 2007.
THIRD: The Cabinet was also informed about the executive working plan for the program of re-directing of financial subsidies to entitled citizens as per memorandum submitted from the Minister of Human Rights and Social Development which included the phases of modernization and development of the necessary database for this purpose.
FOURTH: Emanating from the Government’s keenness on developing postal services in the Kingdom, the Cabinet discussed a bill of law regarding the Post which regulates the task of providing the Postal Services and ensures confidentiality of mail and lists substances banned from import or export through the post and liability for loss or damage of postal items and compensation for lost or damaged postal consignments and clearance levy on postal service, penalties and inspection.
Upon perusal of a memorandum submitted from the Minister of Transportation for this purpose, the cabinet resolved to refer the said bill of law to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs for further studying thereof.
FIFTH: The Cabinet endorsed a bill of motion submitted from the House of Representatives regarding finding a drastic solution for free-visa (irregular) workforce in the Kingdom in general and in the Capital Governorate in particular, and streamlining of efforts between the LMRA and Ministry of Interior and the respective authorities in order to curb this phenomenon.
SIXTH: The Cabinet endorsed a bill of motion submitted from the House of Representatives regarding the government’s formation of an ad hoc committee to consider crimes committed or created via the use of modern electronic telecommunications devices in defaming the Kingdom of Bahrain and finding immediate resolutions and remedies and penalization of offenders.
SEVENTH: The Cabinet endorsed a bill of motion regarding laying down a long-term plan for the welfare and development of wharfs for fishermen in the various regions of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
EIGHTH: The Cabinet endorsed a bill of motion submitted from the House of Representatives regarding developing and restoration of major streets in Al-Hoora and Gudaibiya district.
NINTH: Regarding ministerial reports, the Cabinet reviewed a report submitted from the Minister of the Shura-Council’s-and-House-of- Representatives’-Affairs regarding the outcomes of participation in the 7th meeting of the Ministerial-Committee-Tasked-with-Follow-up-of-the Implementation-of-the-relevant-Resolutions Pertaining to Common Work held recently in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Minister of Finance informed the Cabinet through a report submitted for this purpose regarding the outcome of participation in the Arab Finance Minister’s meetings held in the sisterly Kingdom of Morocco and about the meetings of the Arab Financial Authorities and the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank held in Washington, DC, recently.
The Minister of Education informed the cabinet about a report regarding the outcome of participation in the 8th Arab Education Ministers’ conference held in the sisterly State of Kuwait recently.
The Minister of Human Rights and Social Development informed the cabinet on a report regarding the outcomes of the 3rd GCC Festival for Social Work held in the sisterly State of Kuwait recently.