Page 114 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

100 Records of Bahrain

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Brll-.lnh logoi oxporto with tho idou that it might bo Intro­
duced both for our own .Juriadiction in thp Porniun Gulf
n 8 well no for that of the vai'ioua rulqrsj, This opposition
wan largely whipped up by tho High Execijtlyo Committee^ It
picked mainly on certain acpocta of tho new code which were
held to be abhorrent to the Moslem religion. This was to
some extent a cover for tho Committoo'3 own objection to
certain provisions on associations : which. It considered,
could limit its own activities and scope. Because of
doubt ubout the ability of tho Bahrain Government to cope
with any serious flaunting of its authority - duo to
weakness in tho police force - it was decided in September
to postpone the introduction of the code until it could be
examinod by a suitable Moslem legal expert. During thin
period it was noticeable that the High Exccutivo Committee's
announcements attacking tho code \yero taking an anti-British
lino - the first time this ha3 happened in Bahrain* This
was probably the result of Egyptian inopipnllon op which
the more oxtreme members of ihq commiiipp' ipnpL to druw.
6. In September the Rulor of Bahrain, ^ftuilcb Salmun bin
llainad A1 Khalifa, began to di□ cups-tlio general question of
the reforms, for which the IliglV Exocut^ivo Committoo had
been pressing for over a year, with certain individuals of
tho committee. This he did of his/ovm uccord. During Octobor
these discussions resulted in agroonu.nt that he should set
up three committees each half elected by popular vote and half
appointed by tho Government, to supervioo, with a large degree
of independence, tho work of the departments of public health,
education and the various municipalities in Bahruin. This is .
a big step forward in tho development of the elective principle
in Bahruin, and indcod in Persian Gulf affairs, and it will
be very interesting to see hovy far it succeeds in’practice.
At least it gives the people of Bahrain, in theory, some
suy in - for them - important aspects of government. And
it should do a good deal to sidetrack tho High Executive
Committee's. earlier demund for a legislative council, for
which Duhrain is not yet ready. The committees hud not been
sot up by the end of tho year owing to tho relatively long
period required to organise tho elections.

7. A further manifestation of Egyptian influenco was the
successful collection in Bahrain of the equivalent of 4,500
U.S. dollars for the "Arms for Egypt" fund. This collection
was organised by the High Executive Committee and contributions
were made by tho ruler's sons and other relatives.
8. As regards oil matters an ugroomont v/us made ut the end
of November whereby the Bahruin Petroleum Company submitted
I itself to Bahrain income tax on all oil refined in Bahrain
instead of paying import duty on crude imported from Dhahran
in Saudi Arabia. This device increases the payments due to
Bahrain slightly, without going beyond tlio fifty-fifty
principle. Although negotiations took place in the spring
between tho Political Resident, on behalf of tho Ruler of
Bahrain, and the Saudi Government on the suubcd boundary
betweon Bahrain and Saudi Arabia no effective result has
yet been derived from them.
/ 9.