‘Bahrain passes on good lesson to EP delegates’

Manama  : Bahraini Parliamentarians not only learnt a great deal from the experiences of the European Parliamentarians, but also passed on to them a very good lesson about Bahrain, said Deputy Speaker Ali Al Aradi.

He was speaking to DT News about his experiences with the European Parliament (EP) delegates, who were on a four-day visit (February 21 – 24) to Bahrain at the invitation of Parliament Chairman Ahmed Al Mulla.

The delegation, which consisted of Mitchel Belfer, Roberto Arditti, Chouki and Filipo, will leave Bahrain today morning.

During their stay here in Bahrain, they had met Deputy Prime Minister Jawad bin Salem Al Arrayedh and Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa. 

On the first day of their visit, they had detailed discussions with the MPs, who met them under the leadership of Deputy Speaker Ali Al Aradi at the Parliament House. Head of Human Rights Committee Nasser Al Qaseer and Chairman of Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee Abdullah bin Huwail also attended the discussions along with MPs like Dr Jameela Al Sammak, Isa Al Kooheji and Majeed Al Asfoor.  

“We all learned something from them and also passed on a good lesson to be learned from Bahrain,” said Al Aradi, “We enjoyed a very active parliamentary year in Bahrain due to many reasons and we wanted to share that with our colleagues from the EU.”

The Deputy Speaker said the delegates were taken to the National Museum to show them the real culture of Bahrain and to the Bahrain National Charter Monument to give them an idea of the new Bahrain. They also had a round table interactive dialogue with around 35 civil societies’ representatives.  

The EP delegates talked to the Bahrain TV yesterday where they said they were happy with their visit and wanted the parliamentary diplomacy to continue in the form of exchanges of regular visits between Bahrain and EU.

Aradi said the visit was successful as it gave them an opportunity to engage the European Parliamentarians in a fruitful debate and to open new relationships and enhance mutual cooperation and creating some sort of productive dialogue.

He said it was an exchange of ideas where they had a chance to talk about different topics of regional and international interest.