Through the fog of recriminations and rancour, one thing is clear when it comes to Bahrain: all parties must take a far more measured and responsible approach to politics and economic growth.
Tomorrow, the country goes to the polls. The Shiite opposition bloc Wefaq currently holds 17 of 40 seats in the lower house of parliament, but even if it wins more seats, it does not offer a solution either to Bahrain's political turmoil or economic malaise.
Wefaq has voiced legitimate grievances against the current system, in particular problems with land apportionment, but it has failed to offer a better alternative.
It is not political wrangling that is going to secure the future, despite the noise surrounding the elections. The powers of the lower house are limited in any case. The country needs a strong technocratic response to the challenges it faces.
Bahrain is the GCC's first post-oil nation, and its difficulties will affect its neighbours. The recent tensions have taken a sectarian slant, with majority Shiites forming the main opposition. But the sectarian lens obscures the old truism: it's all about the economy.
The facts stand for themselves. Bahrain's gas consumption is projected to increase to two billion cubic feet a day in about 10 years: that is a demand that it cannot currently meet. The indebted country has serious poverty to address, but it does not have the funds to dispense handouts. While some Bahrainis may feel entitled to state support, the reality is that the state is unable to provide for them on its own.
Bahrain's dwindling oil production has long been under scrutiny. Taxes need to be introduced and finances better spent. The overvaluation of its housing sector also adds to the strain. The 300,000 registered Shiite voters are quite rightly concerned with the distribution of land. But for all of the complaints voiced by the opposition, neither Wefaq nor the secular group Waad has proposed viable solutions to these underlying problems.
On the other hand, the government's heavy-handed crackdown ahead of elections threatens the polls' legitimacy. Free and fair trials of protesters have already been compromised as the government publicly condemns suspects before trying them in court.
The opposition vitriol has been equally unhelpful, with one leading figure accusing Manama of "genocide" at a meeting held at the House of Lords in the UK. That kind of hyperbole is not going to help anyone.
It may be too much to ask for the government and its opponents to step back from this confrontational approach before tomorrow's poll. But as the fog clears, they need to look to solutions to the country's systemic economic ills. Until then, they are both part of the problem.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The biog
Name: Gul Raziq
From: Charsadda, Pakistan
Family: Wife and six children
Favourite holes at Al Ghazal: 15 and 8
Golf Handicap: 6
Childhood sport: cricket
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
More coverage from the Future Forum
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed