Bahrain Mirror: Ibrahim Sharif, the former Secretary-General of the "Wa'ad" Society, expressed that, "Anyone who reads the articles of the charter regarding torture, public funds, equality, priority of employment for Bahrainis, civil society, and the Palestinian cause will laugh."

Sharif, speaking at a lecture in front of a gathering of citizens, said, "Before the parliament came in 2001, the public debt was one billion dinars, and now after 22 years of the parliament's existence, the public debt has reached 24 billion dinars, and the deficit continues even when the price of oil per barrel is over 100 dollars."

He stressed that "there is no effective oversight or real legislation inside the parliament due to ‘enhancements', as the government often does not need the two chambers of parliament except with regards to marginal and minor issues."

He went on to say that in the 1990s, "a citizen could buy land in the best area in Bahrain for 3 dinars (per square foot), but today there is no land priced less than 30 or 40 dinars."

"Citizens' income has doubled or tripled, but the value of land has multiplied more than 15 times, to the extent that the middle class, which used to have the capability to build, now cannot afford to build or acquire land," he added.

He drew attention to a poll about Bahrainis' desire to emigrate conducted by the "Bahrain Guru" account on Instagram, which included 5,200 citizens, 75 percent of whom confirmed they are considering emigration. Sharif commented on this by saying, "This is a poll of citizens about the state of the country they are in."

Sharif further mentioned that "in Bahrain, there is societal fabric decay in the demographic makeup, political naturalization, and unreformable issues, highlighting that "It's the Gulf state with the most strained relations with these countries and its neighbors, such as Iraq and Iran despite the reconciliation."

Arabic Version