Middle East Focus: Cabinets and Families, Cronies and Friends, on the Gulf…….

Arabia Deserta

Cabinets and Families, Cronies and Friends, on the Gulf…….

“Bahrain's largest Shia parliamentary group is demanding the cabinet be chosen by its elected parliament, and not appointed by the king. The al-Wefaq bloc, which holds 17 of 40 seats in the assembly, added that the power sharing envisioned in Bahrain's constitution of 2002 had not yet been sufficiently implemented. Khalil al-Marzooq, the opposition al-Wefaq spokesman, told journalists on Thursday that "the national charter that 98.4 per cent of people voted for [in 2002] clearly states that Bahrain is transferring into a constitutional monarchy". Bahrain's citizens are predominantly Shia Muslim but the kingdom is ruled by the al-Khalifa family from the Sunni Muslim minority. The gulf nation's cabinet is currently appointed by Bahrain's king, with about half the members coming from the royal family. Sunni politicians in the parliament criticised the al-Wefaq demand made on Thursday, with the starkest criticism coming from the al-Menbar society……The country's elected parliament is the only one in the Gulf Arab region besides Kuwait's assembly, but its bills still need to pass an upper house that is appointed by the king…..….”

In (at least) one Gulf state it actually has some advantages to have some cabinet members from the ruling family rather than from the scions of the merchant families (plutocrats). The plutocrats are much worse in many cases, and they tend to play favoritism more (but it may be different in Bahrain). In one notorious case in the 1980s, the minister of finance in one country that I know very well was appointed from among the merchant families (the plutocracy), and he appointed his cronies and people from his district to head all high positions and government-owned corporations, which they then proceeded to screw up real good.

FYI: the current Bahrain cabinet:
King HAMAD bin Isa Al Khalifa
Prime Min. KHALIFA bin Salman Al Khalifa
Dep. Prime Min. ALI bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Dep. Prime Min. MUHAMMAD bin Mubarak Al Khalifa
Min. of King's Court Affairs ALI bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Min. of Communication ALI bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Min. of Electricity & Water ABDALLAH bin Salman Al Khalifa
Min. of Finance & Economy AHMAD bin Muhammad bin Hamad bin Abdallah Al Khalifa
Min. of Foreign Affairs KHALID bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
Min. of Information & Culture MAI bint Muhammad Al Khalifa
Min. of Interior RASHID bin Abdallah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
Min. of Islamic Affairs KHALID bin Ali Al Khalifa
Min. of Justice KHALID bin Ali Al Khalifa
Min. of Information & Culture MAI bint Muhammad Al Khalifa
Min. of Interior RASHID bin Abdallah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa
Min. of Islamic Affairs KHALID bin Ali Al Khalifa
Min. of Justice KHALID bin Ali Al Khalifa
Min. of Transportation ALI bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Min. of State for Cabinet Affairs AHMAD bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa
Min. of State for Defense MUHAMMAD bin Abdallah Al Khalifa Attorney Gen. ABD al-Rahman bin Jabir Al Khalifa
Dir., Bahrain National Security Agency KHALIFA bin Abdallah Al Khalifa

The rest: of the cabinet:
Dep. Prime Min. Jawad al-ARAIDH Min. of Education Majid bin Ali Hasan al-NUAYMI Min. of Health Faysal al-HAMMER, Dr. Min. of Industry & Commerce HASAN bin Abdallah al-Fakhru Min. of Labor Majid bin Muhsin al-ALAWI Min. of Municipalities & Agricultural Affairs Mansur bin RAJAB Min. of Oil & Gas Abd al-Husayn MIRZA Min. of Public Works & Housing Fahmi bin Ali al-JAWDAR Min. of Social Affairs Fatima bint Ahmad al-BALUSHI Min. of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar al-BAHARNA Min. of State for Shura Council Affairs & Parliament Abd al-Aziz bin Muhammad al-FADHIL Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain Rashid bin Muhammad al-MARAJ Ambassador to the US Houda Ibrahim Ezra NUNU Permanent Representative to the UN, New York Tawfiq Ahmad Khalil al-MANSUR
Cheers
mhg

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