Bahrain’s national reform talks have again been indefinitely suspended after a key Sunni group said it would not participate until the opposition rejoined the process and a timeline to achieve a result was set.
The Bahrain National Dialogue has failed to advance since it was launched in February last year to help resolve the Gulf monarchy’s ongoing political unrest.
The majority Shia are calling for greater democratic involvement in governance of the country, which is Sunni ruled.
Opposition groups have refused to participate since September in protest over the arrest of MP Khalil Al Marzooq, who is on trial on charges of being linked to an outlawed terrorist group, promoting terrorist acts and abusing his position. Lawyers have criticised the case as “unconstitutional”.
On Wednesday, members of the Sunni group National Coalition turned up to the scheduled meeting but said it would no longer participate in the process unless the opposition rejoined the dialogue without preconditions and a timeframe was set to reach an agreement with the government.
“We want all of the four groups to be a part of dialogue as we look for solutions internally and with positivity and without the four, dialogue can’t be healthy and will lead nowhere,” National Coalition spokesman and Al Menbar National Islamic Society representative Dr Khalid Al Qattan was quoted by Gulf Daily News as saying.
“The coalition is willing to sit with the opposition now to reach an understanding on the future of dialogue because we believe their feedback is necessary, but they have to denounce terrorism and violence.”
Dialogue spokesman Isa Abdulrahman said he remained optimistic that talks would resume.
“Dialogue has been suspended, but that doesn’t mean talks on the sidelines are barred and maybe a breakthrough could be reached,” he said.
Bahrain has been embroiled in violent political unrest since early 2011 and the rulers have been accused of abusing civil rights in its attempts to crackdown on dissent.
Follow us on
