US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1524

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, BA 
SUBJECT: KING'S CONFIDANT DISCUSSES LATEST DOMESTIC 
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF: MANAMA 1506 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe.  Reason 1.4 (b)(d) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Close confidant of the King Hassan Fakhro, 
in an October 17 conversation with the Ambassador, said that 
the government fully welcomes the participation of the four 
boycotting societies in the 2006 parliamentary elections. 
The government expected, he added, that their participation 
will change the composition of the elected chamber 
considerably, undoubtedly complicating the life of Ministers 
who will spend increasing amounts of time in parliament 
responding to inquiries.  He dismissed as totally untrue 
rumors that the King was considering a postponement of 
parliamentary elections.  He said that the boycotting 
societies seem to have accepted that there will be no changes 
in the constitution before the election, but he fully 
expected the new parliament to raise the issue of 
constitutional amendments.  He defended the appointed upper 
house (Shura Council) as a necessary equivalent of a ruling 
party, designed to prevent political instability.  He also 
predicted that the composition of the Shura will change in 
time, with appointments becoming "perhaps less unilateral." 
Fakhro said that he had held discussions with NDI's Fawzi 
Guleid about an upcoming "dialogue meeting" NDI is organizing 
 End summary. 
 
2. (C) Minister of Industry and Commerce Hassan Fakhro, a 
close confidant of the King, reviewed for the Ambassador 
during an October 17 discussion the latest royal family 
thinking on recent political developments, including the 
decision this month by boycotting opposition society Al-Wifaq 
to register under the new political societies law (reftel). 
Hassan said he wanted to make two points, which he said can 
be viewed as official positions: 
 
-- first, there is no question of postponing the October 2006 
parliamentary elections, despite rumors that the King was 
considering doing so.  Fakhro confided that he was the 
anonymous high-level official recently quoted on the front 
page of Al-Ayam as stating rumors of a possible postponement 
were not true. (Comment: This rumor first surfaced in 
September, when it was suggested that the King would announce 
during the opening of Parliament in early October that he 
would extend the current parliamentary session by an 
additional two years. He made no such announcement, but the 
rumor has resurfaced from time to time.  End comment.) 
 
-- second, the government fully welcomes the participation of 
the four boycotting societies in the 2006 parliamentary 
elections, and is not having any second thoughts about their 
participation.  He said that the government realized that "it 
will be no picnic" having the boycotting societies in the 
parliament, as the make-up of the elected Chamber of Deputies 
may be totally different.  After the elections, Ministers can 
expect to spend increasing amounts of time in parliament 
answering questions and inquiries (with Al-Wifaq and other 
boycotters inside the Council of Representatives), but this 
is a reality of life in a developing democracy. 
 
3. (C) Fakhro said that he had been in discussion with NDI 
representative Fawzi Guleid about the latter's plan to 
organize a "dialogue meeting" that would include members of 
parliament, government officials, and political societies. 
He said that he had told Guleid that the government had no 
problem with this event, provided that the topics for 
discussion stayed within an agreed-upon scope and did not 
venture into areas more properly handled by the government or 
the parliament itself, most notably amendments to the 
constitution.  When the Ambassador pushed back, stating that 
the constitution would seem to be a reasonable subject for 
discussion, Fakhro responded with a plea to give the 
government some time.  The constitution didn't come out of 
the blue, he said.  It was the result of deadlock and 
compromise.  Since there is no ruling party in Bahrain, the 
King devised a formula whereby the elected parliament could 
not vote down the government regularly, and the government 
wouldn't feel the need to dissolve the parliament. 
 
4. (C)  The King, Fakhro stated, had been working on this 
concept for three decades, since the last parliament was 
dissolved while he was Crown Prince.  By establishing an 
appointed Shura Council as an upper house, the government 
resolved the problem of no ruling party to protect the 
government's interests.  The Shah of Iran had gone a 
different route, he noted, by trying to form a ruling party, 
"and we all know what happened there."  Bahrain needs more 
time to let its parliamentary institutions develop, he 
repeated. 
 
5. (C) On the issue of amending the Constitution, Fakhro said 
that opposition boycotters now seem to have accepted that 
there will be no changes to the constitution before the 2006 
elections.  After the election, however, he expected the 
issue to be addressed by the new Parliament, which will 
feature a much stronger opposition.  When the Ambassador 
commented that any constitutional initiatives could easily be 
blocked by the appointed Shura, Fakhro replied that he 
expected in time for there to be some evolution in the 
composition of the Shura, with the selection of Shura members 
becoming "perhaps less unilateral." 
 
6. (C) Asked what issues might be discussed at the proposed 
NDI dialogue meeting, Fakhro focused primarily on parliament 
and its evolving role.  He cited the budget as a notable 
parliamentary achievement where the parliamentarians have 
played an increasingly important role.  And he noted the 
accelerated use by parliament of "desired resolutions" 
("iqtirah raghbah," which are somewhat akin to "sense of the 
Congress" resolutions).  Fakhro said that this mechanism is 
increasingly and successfully being used by elected 
parliamentarians to, for example, get government approval for 
funding of projects.  He said that at the previous day's 
Cabinet meeting, a dozen such proposals were considered, and 
most were approved. 
MONROE