No hope for real change in Bahrain with Al Khalifa at helm

No hope for real change in Bahrain with Al Khalifa at helm: Analyst
11 February, 2013 – Shia Post

A Bahraini opposition leader says that the developments in the past two years in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain have proved that the ruling Al Khalifa regime cannot be trusted to bring about real changes.

The comments come as Bahraini protesters have held fresh protest rallies marking the second anniversary of their pro-democracy uprising against the ruling regime. Anti-regime demonstrators on Thursday held a massive march in the capital, Manama, while similar rallies were held in several other parts of the country. According to Physicians for Human Rights, many doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or have disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Press TV has talked with Saeed Shahabi, Bahraini opposition leader from London to further discuss the issue at hand. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Saeed Shahabi we are looking now this going into its second year, is there a chance for reforms to take place or has that threshold been passed at this point, based on what the Bahraini people want?

Shahabi: It is clear from the insistence of the people of Bahrain that they believe that reform was not possible with this regime because it has failed drastically in implementing any sort of reforms.

Two years now of revolution and it has not implemented one single act of real political reforms apart from some technical matters with regards to the politics of the country, how the country is run, what is the role of the people, where does the ruling family stand in the midst of all this.

It has really rejected and refused to look into these matters while the people want real reforms. So the reform is not forthcoming after decades of struggle and the only conclusion from all of this, is that this Al Khalifa dynasty cannot be trusted to rule the country and it is now time for a real change in the country and that Al Khalifa must go and leave the people to look after themselves.

Press TV: If you want to look at, perhaps like the opposition al-Wefaq, what types of activities should they be involved with, regarding pushing forward their agenda for change aside from the protests that we see happening?

Shahabi: I think that there are two blocs in the country.

First you have the revolutionary bloc which consists of the 14th of February Alliance and if course the other movements whose leaders are in jail like Hassan Mushaima, Abdulwahhab Hussain, Sheikh al-Meghdad, Dr. [Abdiljalil] Alsingace, Dr. abdulhadi al-Khawaja; all of these groups are united under the banner of The Alliance for the Republic and then on the other hand you have the political societies which consist of al-Wefaq and others.

Now the people, as you know, because the revolutionary groups are not authorized and they are pursued all the time by the regime, they have limited area for movement, while the political societies have larger areas for movement.

Now the expectation is that these political societies must improve their political performance and that is they should really make themselves clear in their position.

They must call for demonstrations, they must really take the situation further. They can mobilize people, there are many regional scholars who will stand with any move to improve the wellbeing of the people and to ensure that the revolution does not fade away.

I think these political societies need to improve their performance, call for more solidarity with the revolution and also be present in the next week or so on the streets.

They should challenge the regime drastically because without this challenge the regime may feel that it is safe and sound.

I think that you will fall but only if those societies really out their hands in the hands of the revolutionaries. …source