Bahrain: National Dialogue and Future Outlook

Finally, Jamal Ali Al-Hazeem, CEO of BMI Bank discusses the national dialogue and the future of the Kingdom.

Al-Hazeem stays critical about the national dialogue. He says, ” There, you can resolve it but if the intentions are not there, no matter what you put on the table one party will reject it. I have to be honest. Today I can’t see the intentions on the table. They aren’t there. I hope that will change in the very near future. The latest decision by His Majesty the King of appointing his Royal Highness the Prince Salman as Deputy Prime Minister hopefully will add to the positive side of how things will go along for the next few weeks because he’s a person that hopefully can pull everyone together and lead the different groups forward.”

At the same time, adds Al-Hazeem, ” I hope that as the next few weeks unfold, we’ll see changes in the positions that have been taken by the different groups around the dialogue table. That’s really in all our best interests because I don’t think you can dismiss or cancel any group against the other. No one can. So our faith and our destiny is to work, live and coexist together. Otherwise we will just be like the way we are now which is not serving the purpose or objectives of any one of us.”
When asked about the future of Bahrain, Al-Hazeem concludes, “I think Bahrain has gone through these difficulties many times in the past. Bahrain has seen these times more than once and we always come out of it as Bahrainis who are stronger and more eager to work and develop this country. I think this time is not different than the others although it is more severe than the previous times. I think we all have the will and intentions to move forward at the end of the day. Yes, we do have hard times and hurdles during the road and that’s understandable. Everybody is in their own trench and everybody’s taking a position but at the end of the day, when push comes to shovel, I think you will see Bahrainis rising to take this country forward and reconcile their differences. I’m not worried. The only thing that really concerns is that twenty years ago, one year would have been okay; one year now is a long time to be in a standstill. The world is not waiting for you. Everybody is moving very fast so you have to make up your mind and move forward much more quickly than twenty years ago.”