MPs deny graft charges

Manama: MPs denied corruption allegations made against them, after some reports accused them of misusing their authorities to gain personal profit.

It all started when a local Arabic daily recently reported that “a few MPs have bought residential lands in Busaiteen and later used their parliamentary jurisdictions to change the classification of the lands to commercial, tripling the prices of the plots.”

The report didn’t mention the names of the nine accused MPs, but when the matter was leaked on social media, several accounts accused the council’s Second Deputy Chairman Abdulhaleem Murad and Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Parliamentary Committee Member Abdulruham Bumjaid of being involved.

Bumjaid quickly denied the matter in a press statement: “I don’t even own a land in Busaiteen. The information is not true and is a rejected defamation of MPs. This is a clear exploitation of responsible freedom of expression.”

Bumjaid said he was surprised about involving him in the report, confirming that it is his right to take the matter to the judiciary authorities for being insulted and slandered.

“I have dedicated all of my efforts in the Council of Representatives to serve citizens and I have never misused my authorities as an MP for my personal interests,” said Bumjaid.

Murad, on the other hand, took the matter to an extent of mockery. He posted on his official Twitter page, “I hope they could guide me to the land in Busaiteen that they claim I own.”

He said in another tweet, “I had been living with my family for 18 years in an apartment that is attached to a mosque. I have just bought a house through a loan provided to me by Housing Ministry and I don’t own any other proprieties.”

Some of the accounts on Twitter and Instagram removed the posts they’ve published earlier, along with the pictures of the MPs, after their statements were published.

Additionally, Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa stressed that “all criticism should be based on objectivity and national interests.”

“MPs are part of a constitutional branch that represents the citizens who elected them by their own will, and therefore, we will never allow any attempt to undermine that branch which should receive all respect and appreciation,” said the Premier.