House nod for VAT

The Council of Representatives yesterday approved a number of urgent laws in its extraordinary session, including the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) by the beginning of next year.

The session was a historical one, simply for the seriousness and number of legislation the House discussed and passed. The crucial legislation that was approved in the session also included revoking the pensions of MPs and Shura Council members, granting Shura Council members the jurisdiction to question ministers and providing international protection for Bahraini military personnel involved in official missions abroad.

Considering the sensitivity of the topics discussed and voted, 10 MPs demanded that journalists exit the hall, while the council’s General Secretariat withdrew mobile phones from all attending MPs to ensure that the details of the discussions are not leaked outside the walls of the House. Tribune learned that 27 MPs voted for the implementation of VAT while only nine parliamentarians including Jalal Kadhim, Mohammed Al Ahmed, Ali Bufarsen, Mohammed Al Emmadi, Mohsen Al Bakri, Mohammed Al Maarifi, Abdulhameed Al Najjar, Khalifa Al Ghanim, and Isa Turki rejected it.

Ahmed Qarata and Theyab Al Nuaimi refused to vote while Abdulla Binhowail and Ali Al Ateesh were absent from the session. The law decree that stipulated the implementation of VAT consists of 77 legal articles. Sources confirmed to Tribune that five out of the eight committee members initially rejected the new legislation. After a meeting with Council’s Speaker Ahmed Al Mulla, four members agreed to pass the decree, while one MP, Ali Bufarsen, refused to vote.