Page 213 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

Constitutional reforms, 1955 199

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himself. There iSNgfggifii to bolleve that at one stage
ho harboured the potion that ho could play off the
modorato members of the Cpmmittee against the extremists,
but if so this hope has until now boon disappointed.

Perhaps, too, ho realised that ho was in no position yot
for a trial of strength with his critics and docidod to
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pipy for time until' the police;forco is roorganisod find
strengthened: this thought has, of course, boon very
much in our own minds though i ^ may be too far-sighted
a consideration to attribute t9 Shaikh Sulman. Finally,
I think that Shaikh Sulman has ‘probably been impressed
by advice which he has no doubt received from those
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educated Bahrainis who travel pbroad, to the effect that
Bahrain is no longer ahead of the times in respect of its
government and administration. :
3. However this may bo, the Ruler*s present
initiative, and the fact that he has at last proved

willing to treat directly with /'representatives of the
people", are to be welcomed up to a point. They have,
as Mr. Gault points out, much roducod the previous
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political tension in the island and have, for the present,
removed the danger of strikes or political disturbances
which would have severely tried the Bahrain police and

probably found them wanting. But the measures to which
he has agreed are not without their dangers, though they !
fall short of the olccted legislative assembly which tt>e
reformists wore demanding. In the first placo they carry
with them the danger of increased Egyptian influence.
1 /Since

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