More of the same
Friday, April 22, 2005As the turn of the month approaches, opposition activists have reloaded and have announced some more protests to keep the pressure on the government.
On April 30 (the eve of Labour Day), the Committee for the Unemployed will hold the third in its series of demonstrations. This time the protest will take the form of a march that will commence at 7.30pm from Ras Ruman mosque and will pass by the Prime Minister's office. (Read about the first and second protests.)
On the following Friday (May 6), the second protest demanding constitutional reforms will be held. The venue this time will be next to Dana Mall at 4pm. Interestingly, the announcement says that the protest is being sponsored by all four of the boycotting opposition parties, rather than just Al Wefaq as was the case for the first protest. Is it possible that the others have finally woken up?
Well, let's see.
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Update (24-Apr-05): Today's GDN has the following:
Rally ‘illegal’
MANAMA: Social Affairs Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi yesterday dismissed the constitutional conference general secretariat as “unlicensed and illegal”. She was commenting on news that a rally would be held on May 6 to press for constitutional reforms.
Things seem to keep repeating themselves in Bahrain. But Dr Balooshi's statement sounds more like a dismissal of legitimacy, rather than the ban that was imposed on the last protest. But there's still time left, so let's see how the government responds this time.
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Update (25-Apr-05): More in today's GDN:
A planned rally to call for constitutional changes would be an illegal act orchestrated by an illegal organisation, authorities said yesterday. The government does not recognise the group organising the rally, which is backed by four political societies that boycotted the parliamentary elections, said a senior Social Affairs Ministry official. (Continued)
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on Friday, April 22, 2005 at 4/22/2005 03:11:00 pm. Permalink
4/22/2005 07:58:00 pm
Chan'ad, the Sitra protests were also supported by ALL the boycotting societies as is obvious by all the follow up meetings they had to rally around Wefaq following the governments threats against it. Wefaq was responsible for the logistics and rallying the people.
These are protests that fall into the strategy of escalation the boycotting societies are adopting in pressuring the government for constitutional changes before the 2006 elections. This aim is openly stated in Alamana al3ama lilmo2tamar aldistoori led by Jaleela Alsayed, established by all four societies to implement the recommendations of the Constitutional Conference of February 2004.
No reforms, no participation in 2006 elections. There isn't an ideologically contentious element in this message; that is why you see islamists hand in hand with liberals and ex-communists- a relationship that has been resilient since the 70s.
The quest and demand for a more democratic framework is foremost, ideology is secondary, and should naturally be accomodated in this framework.