Al Wefaq MPs quit Parliament

V L Srinivasan
Manama (Bahrain), Feb 28:

Eighteen MPs from the Al Wefaq bloc yesterday resigned en masse from the Council of Representatives.
The decision to resign from the Parliament was conveyed in a letter to the office of the Chairman of the Council of Representatives Khalifa Ahmed Al Dhahrani who called a meeting with the MPs at 12.30pm tomorrow to discuss the matter. However, the Al Wefaq lawmakers promptly turned down his request for a meeting. “We are writing another letter to Mr. Dhahrani to inform him that we cannot attend the meeting and our decision to resign from the Parliament is final,” MP Matar Ebrahim Matar told DT.
The 18 MPs previously announced their withdrawal from the Lower House in protest against the crackdown on protesters earlier in the month.
Mr. Matar added that according to Parliament protocol the Chairman should reply to the MPs within three days and if the MPs stick to their decision to resign the matter will be referred to the Parliament where a majority of MPs must approve the resignations. “Once the decision is approved, fresh elections have to be held to fill the seats of the resigned MPs,” he said.
“If the resignations are not accepted, the Council will lose its legitimacy as the 18 MPs represent 64 per cent of the electorate.”
Echoing similar sentiments, MP Dr. Jassim Hussain said that political issues should be resolved with political solutions and not through the use of force.
“Bahrain should be a role model of democracy in this part of the world as we are educated, cultured and have a long history,” he said.