Bahrain: Minor Ministerial Changes
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
Rumours had been flying around on Friday evening (February 25th) of ministerial changes within Bahrain's government. The rumours were confirmed in Saturday's newspapers, where details of four ministers getting sacked (Eng. Fahmi Al-Jowdar - Ministry of Electricity and Water / Dr. Faisal Al-Hamar - Minister of Health / Shaikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa - Minister of Housing / Shaikh Ahmed bin Atteyatallah Al-Khalifa - Minister of Ministerial Council Affairs).
Ministerial changes in Bahrain government. Image courtesy of Al-Wasat Newspaper
In their places, two current ministers were reshuffled including: Majeed Al-Alawi switching from Ministry of Labour to Housing and Dr. Nizar Al-Baharna from Ministry of State and Foreign Affairs to Ministry of Health. Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs Abdulhussain Mirza also was given the responsibility of the Ministry of Electricity and Water. Two new ministers entered government with Kamal Ahmed as Minister of State and Jameel Humaidan Undersecretary of Labour being promoted to Minister of the same ministry.
Reactions from social media have been mixed to say the least:
@hussain_info Ppl in #bahrain considers the removal of 4 ministers meaningless for #feb14 & expecting new rallies #lulu #fb
@SamehFoulad على صفحة معتصمي الفاتح على الفيس بوك يوجد الكثير من التعليقات الغير مؤيدة لتغيير وزاري http://on.fb.me/f0TYVw #Bahrain #lulu
The Al-Fateh protesters' Facebook Page has many comments against the ministerial changes@luluroundabout2 #bahrain #LULU #14feb مو وزيرا الدفاع والداخلية قتلوا ابناء الشعب بدم بارد لماذا لم يقالا عاى الاقل للتظاهر بحسن النية
Didn't the Army and Police kill the people in cold blood? Why weren't they sacked to at least show good intent@BRNY600 I think sacking the ministers is a sign of good intent … Good I say … #Bahrain #Feb14
@Dr_Sadiq التغييرات الترقيعية تؤكد ان النظام لا يزال يضرب على وتر الطائفية وكأن مشكلة المعارضة مع الحكومة مشكلة سنة وشيعة #Bahrain #feb14
These “patching” changes show that the regime still plays on sectarian lines as if the opposition's problem is a ‘Shia vs Sunni' problem@mohdashoor 3 ministers sacked as protesters remain in Martyrs Square #Bahrain, and insist on the resignation of the whole government.
@mahmood تعديل وزاري يطيح بـ 4 وزراء: http://bit.ly/grhEW4 good start. Now prosecute Attiyatallah and his stooges, weed them out & get rid of them.
@emoodz Was Bandergate discovered yesterday? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Bandar… #iwonder #bahrain #lulu
@emoodz Sacking three ministers is baby step in the right direction.. #justsaying #bahrain #lulu
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
Saturday 26 February 2011
Bahrain: Minor Ministerial Changes · Global Voices
