To hell with democracy.. bring back the old ways

For the first time in my life I voted for the Bahraini Parliament. Now I know that I should not have bothered. Democracy is not worth it and it doesn’t work in the Arab world in general and Bahrain in particular.

They have been operating now since October 2002. Almost a full term considering that they’ve just voted to take 3 months off for summer! They want to be addressed as “your excellency”. They insist on getting Mercedes S320 cars with drivers. They get between BD 2,000 and 3,000 per month, maybe more if they’re involved in various committees and shall not be surprised if they also get overtime pay.

What the bloody hell are these people doing? Did they do a single thing since taking office to better the way of life in Bahrain?

Consider this:

A CALL for veiled women to be allowed to drive in Bahrain with their faces covered could get a second hearing by members of parliament.

A move to put the proposal to lift the ban on driving while veiled to a full parliament meeting was last week rejected by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Economy Committee.

But now it is to reconsider its decision, after appeals by parliament second-vice-chairman Adel Al Ma’a-wda and MP Jassim Al Saeedi.

They urged the committee yesterday to put the matter before a full parliament meeting.

A full parliament meeting? What are these jokers up to? What age do they really live in, and more importantly what age do they want us to go back to? For God’s sake change the constitution and ban any Islamists or whatever religious nut from running for office. Let them live in their own caves, mosques, churches, synagogues, temples, anywhere BUT being a representative of the people.

Your Exalted Excellencies Messrs. Al-Saeedi and Al Ma’a-wda want to waste the national time by having yet ANOTHER full parliamentary debate on a subject so trivial that they should feel absolutely ashamed to even suggest it. If they don’t then it is OUR job, the people who elected them in the first place, to shame them.

Don’t we have any other problems in Bahrain that needs their real attention?

Obviously not.

  • We don’t suffer from unemployment
  • We don’t suffer from abuse of power
  • We don’t suffer from bribery and corruption
  • We don’t suffer from housing shortages
  • We don’t suffer from a filthy environment
  • We don’t suffer from desertification
  • We don’t suffer from the huge escape of capital
  • We don’t suffer from inflation
  • We don’t suffer from descrimination
  • We don’t suffer from an economy down in the dumps
  • We don’t suffer from high costs of living
  • We don’t suffer from a bankrupt and backward education system

    and the list goes on. However:

  • We do want more mosques, having 5 in every neighborhood is not enough
  • We do want to keep women chained to their homes
  • We do want to have every woman completely covered from head to toe
  • We do want to have separate laws for the various sects we have in Bahrain
  • We do want to stay on the man’s side, no matter what
  • We do want to keep the divorce, inheritance, and custody laws at the man’s will

    Progress? What the hell is that? Bahrain now is at least 50 years behind Dubai, and in some cases even behind Saudi Arabia!

    But let our elected exalted representative of the people create a country that no one wants to live in.

    I wonder if the emigration laws to Europe, America and Australia are still on? Hell, India sounds even a nicer place to be than Bahrain at the moment – and for as long as these so called “People’s Representatives” are in Parliament.

    The King should seriously consider another referendum. Bannish the parliament and democracy. I’ll be the first to sign up!

  • Comments

    1. mahmood

      Re(2): It’s a habit

      sick is not the word man!

      Webber is a good driver with a lot of promise, he needs more support from his team though and until he gets that the podium is a dream maintained by Ferrari , McLaren, Williams and maybe Renault this season!

      I’m [b]really itching[/b] for F1 to start in Bahrain. There is a rumour saying that it will be moved to March next year rather than October. The sooner the better!!

    2. skribe

      It’s a habit

      You’ve had a partially-elected parliament for a whole six months and you’re already demanding change? =)

      Your comment reminds me of a pair of South African women who were being interviewed in one of the shanty towns on the eve of Mandella’s ascension to the presidency. They were asked how long they would give Mandella to fix all the problems in South Africa. One of the women thought for a moment and then said ‘Six days’.

      Democracy is a slow moving beast which can be extremely frustrating at times It demands much from the populace, but it also offers much. The trick is to not let the elected officials ‘rule’ but only to serve. Remember they represent you. Make it a habit to know who your local representative is and make sure they know who you are. Your vote is the most precious thing you possess. Make it count.

      Two quotes that I feel are appropriate:

        All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
        (Edmund Burke)

        Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time.
        (Sir Winston Churchill)

      skribe

    3. skribe

      Emigration

      You can scratch Australia from the list. While most Australians would welcome you with open arms the government would likely reject you because, if the handsome chappy in the left top hand corner is any indication, you look too much like one of the 911 boys. Little Johnny, our esteemed leader, was in Washington (staying across the road from the Whitehouse IIRC) during the attacks and got such a dreadful fright. So much so that he was the first onboard when Georgie boy started building a posse so they could go and shoot some teatowel-heads. That’s why there were Aussies in Afghanistan and also in Iraq. He figgas if he can wipe out all the eye-rabs he’ll be able to wear something other than brown trousers again.

      In all seriousness, if you’re really serious about emigration to Oz (you do like cricket don’t you? =) I can look into it for you.

      skribe

    4. mahmood

      Re: It’s a habit

      I accept that democracy is slow moving because by its nature it dictates that everything should be done by concensus. But I do think that reasonable men can recognize things going wrong pretty early, and it is my right and duty as a citizin who actually bothered to vote and elect one of these clowns to voice my opinions.

      I see that the parliament and its sessions are being hijacked now by a few so called Islamists who want to change our way of life and take us back a few thousand years in most cases.

      What I maintain is that at this crucial stage of democratic life in Bahrain is for these representatives to make at least an attempt at bettering people’s life, increase economic turn-over, find ways to reduce the unemployment, and bring banks and businesses that have gone out of Bahrain, and solidify its position on the business world map, not waste the parliament’s time and efforts in trivial, personal persuits.

      My article is a clear message of my – a citizin of this country who wants it to be the best and a guiding light for all emerging democracies in this area of the world – distaste and opposition to a few of these parliamentarians in wasting time and effort. The time that they’ve spent even discussing these issues and putting them on the agenda could have been better utilized in any of the things I mentioned in the post.

      It is my opinion that there should be a clear demarcation between politics and religion. What they want to do – and I am completely opposed to – is them merging the two disperate things together.

      It is them – the Islamists – who have attempted to derail the government plans to bring Formula 1 into Bahrain but voting against the bill. The reasoning is that Formula 1 is against Islamic teachings! They say that it will bring prostitution, drink and “encourage youths to drive fast”. As if all of these things are not prevalent in Bahrain already!

      They have also discussed the government banks (like the Housing Bank etc) not take any interest on loans provided! If you consider that the loans are already subsidised, they might as well close the bank altogether thus first creating more unemployment, negate the chance of most Bahrainis ever owning houses, or at least diverting us to commercial banks who charge 2 or 3 times the interest rate!!

      Do I give up? hell no! This is my attempt to get things better.

      [Modified by: Mahmood Al-Yousif (mahmood) on May 07, 2003 05:08 AM]

    5. skribe

      Re(1): It’s a habit

      Give me a few good men and I will change the world.

      Anti-F1 is just sick. Do you think Webber will get a podium this year?

      skribe

    6. mahmood

      Re: Emigration

      I thought that picture would generate that sort of reaction! 🙂 GOOD! Time for people to see that we’re not all terrorists! Most of the time I actually wear western dress, but recently I decided to “go back to the roots” and wear our own national dress. And I gained weight and the “thobe” is much more comforable!! 😉

      Didn’t know that about your PM actually being “there” when 911 happened and now I understand his actions for sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq…

      I know that there is no such thing as “never

    7. anonymous

      A Veiw from New York City

      [p]I was searching for the full “democracy stinks except for…” speech of Winston Churchill and Google brought me here.[/p]
      [p]I’m in New York City charged with developing a website for our local community board and find your concerns about your fledgling democracy fascinating. (For information on the city’s grass roots governance level, community boards, see http://www.community-boards.wego.net/.)[/p]
      [p]As a lifelong resident of a democracy I cringe every time I realize something is worse. Some of us think that technology can be used to create a more transparent and open governance system, and that this will lead to an improved democracy. Deliberative Democracy is the latest construct that we’re going to test out here.[/p]
      [p]If our experiment works, democracy will remain far from perfect, but perhaps less irritating. Keep an eye on our effort and let me know what you think. I’ll be looking in to see how your democracy develops and rooting for some success on your side of the planet.[/p]
      [p]Sincerely,[/p]
      [p]Tom Lowenhaupt[/p]
      [p]Member, Queens Community Board 3, NYC[/p]
      [p]TomL@communisphere.com.[/p]
      [p]P.S. If anyone knows where I can find Churchill’s full speech, please let me know.[/p]

    Comments are closed.