Speaker highlights Bahrain’s democratic and political strides

Madrid, Nov.27(BNA): Council of Representatives Speaker Fawzia bint Abdulla Zainal highlighted Bahrain’s democratic and political strides under the reform project led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa. She was addressing the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) plenary session, being hosted by Spain, under the theme Contemporary Challenges to Democracy: Overcoming Division and Building Society”. The Speaker, Head of Bahrain’s delegation to the IPU conference, stressed the role of the constitution and national action charter as the guarantor democratic practices. She underlined continued coordination between the legislative and executive branches of government, stressing the keenness of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, on supporting cooperation between the Government and legislature. She said that Bahrain, while combating COVID-19 pandemic, did not take any measures to curb the rights of citizens, infringe on their privacy, or restrict their freedoms, sparing no effort to protect their decent livelihoods and preserve their economic and living conditions. She urged a multilateral world and active participation in making decisions, stressing the importance of engaging citizens and their representatives in the democratic process. The speaker highlighted current challenges facing democracy, highlighting the crucial role of parliaments in protecting the democratic and political processes. She underlined the fast technological strides over the past years, which facilitated people’s access to information and enabled parliaments to open up to the public.