Lawmakers in call to reserve govt jobs ‘only for Bahrainis’

A parliamentary bloc in the Kingdom is planning to oblige the government to limit the majority of job categories in the public sector to Bahrainis, considering the growing numbers of unemployed citizens in recent years. This came as the “Bahrain” parliamentary bloc announced that it has submitted a proposed law to allow only Bahrainis to work in government jobs in different sectors, including healthcare, hospitality, legal departments, aviation and more.

According to a statement that was recently issued by the nine-member group, the jobs include nurses, accountants, engineers, teachers, physician assistants, accountant assistants, nursing assistants, recruitment staff, recruitment directors, recruitment specialist, procurement specialists, procurement officers, auditors, hotel managers, reception managers, hotel chefs, flight attendants, receptionists, legal advisors, administrative jobs, dentists, dental assistants, maintenance specialists and maintenance technicians.

For his part, MP Ahmed Al Salloom, Bloc Chairman, emphasised on the importance of the group’s proposal at a time when “the numbers of unemployed Bahrainis are rising and considering that the right of employment is guaranteed to them by the constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain”.

“It is necessary that we look into limiting government jobs to citizens,” Mr Al Salloom commented. He commented further: “There are many citizens who worked hard to obtain qualifications and were unable to find jobs in the same specialty, which they aspired to work in it because of the lack of job opportunities in the government sector. “As a result of this, many of them turned to work outside their specialty to secure their source of living.”

The proposal is expected to be debated in the upcoming sessions of the current legislative term, as the MPs’ holiday is scheduled to end by October this year. In addition to Mr Al Salloom, the bloc, which was formed in last February, includes MPs Ammar Qambar, Ahmed Al Damestani, Hesham Al Asheeri, Ali Ishaqi, Ahmed Al Aamer, Hamad Al Kooheji, Zainab Abdulameer and Fadhel Al Sawwad.