Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has announced the formation of a new government with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa as prime minister, after accepting the resignation of the previous government following the November legislative elections on Monday.
The monarch issued a series of decrees accepting the resignation of the government, reappointing the crown prince as prime minister and revealing the composition of the new government, according to the Bahraini state news agency BNA.
The Bahraini crown prince thanked the monarch for the appointment and promised to «continue to assume all his responsibilities», after which the Royal House unveiled a government in which Rashin bin Abdullah al Khalifa at the head of the Interior and Abdullah bin Rashid al Zayani in Foreign Affairs stand out.
They are joined by Salman bin Khalifa al Khalifa in Finance, Abdullah bin Hassan al Noaimi in Defense, Nauaf bin Mohamed al Maauda in Justice, Jamil bin Mohamed Ali Humaidan in Labor, Osama bin Ahmed Khalaf al Asfur in Social Development, Ramzan bin Abdullah al Noaimi in Information, and Jalila bint al Sayed Jauad Hassan in Health.
Bahraini authorities claimed after the legislative elections that the turnout had been the highest in two decades, amid criticism from NGOs for the restriction exercised by Manama against opposition movements in the framework of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests since 2011 in the framework of the ‘Arab Spring’.
This year, Bahrain has registered an unprecedented number of candidates, with 561 and 176 participants, respectively, to 40 and 30 seats for the lower house of Parliament and municipal councils, respectively; up 20 percent compared to 2018.
In contrast, Amnesty International recalled the atmosphere of repression in the country, where at least twelve prisoners of conscience, including the leaders of the 2011 protests as well as Ali Salman, head of the country’s main opposition party, Wefaq, «are currently languishing in prison.»
