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Opposition Criticizes Bahrain's Political Reforms
DUBAI, Jan 24 (News Agencies) - The exiled Bahraini opposition charged Wednesday that the political reforms planned in Bahrain would transfer powers to a king at the expense of parliament, which is to be restored after 26 years.
"The government wants to force the people to sign a blank check transferring all the powers of parliament to the king," Mansur al-Jamri, spokesman of London-based Bahrain Freedom Movement, said.
"What use is parliament if, from a constitutional point of view, all the power lies in the hands of the king?" he asked.
The emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, said Tuesday that a national charter to create a constitutional monarchy and restore parliament would be put to a referendum on February 14th and 15th.
"All Bahrainis, men and women, are invited to go to polling places to give their opinion on the proposed national charter," he said in a decree.
The charter, drawn up in December, would return democracy to the Gulf Arab archipelago after the emir's father dissolved the country's first parliament in 1975.
But Jamri reiterated opposition calls for the release of all political prisoners and the unconditional return off exiles before any referendum.
"What credibility does it have, a referendum which is held under emergency laws and in the absence of freedom of opinion and expression?" he asked, calling for the government to provide "guarantees".
Also on Tuesday, the Bahraini authorities released Jamri's father, leading Shiite opposition figure Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri, from 18 months of house arrest, five years after the cleric was first detained.
But the opposition spokesman said the move was only "a diversion on the part of the authorities" before a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention visited Bahrain February 24-March 2.
Amnesty International is also planning a visit to Bahrain in February, according to Jamri.
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