Plagiarism scandal rocks Bahrain Parliament as council’s intellectual integrity shadowed

TDT | Manama                                                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Mahir Haneef

From the hallowed halls of academia to the highest seats of power, plagiarism has reared its ugly head, leaving a trail of shattered careers in its wake. Now, this academic scourge appears to have reached the shores of Bahrain, casting a shadow over the very institution entrusted with upholding the Kingdom’s intellectual integrity—the Parliament.

In a startling revelation, Maryam Al Dhaen, a Parliament member, has alleged that a bill she submitted in August this year has been plagiarised by none other than the members of a Parliamentary committee designated to vet new bills for duplication with bills already submitted by others.

While she submitted a bill on August 20th this year to register trainee doctors under the social security system, it was plagiarized by members of the committee once it gathered steam, the MP has alleged.

The bill originated from her own experience as a doctor trained in the UK who found several obstacles to employment in Bahrain and the insights provided by a group of similar doctors who had met her and others, highlighting their grievances, the MP said.

Grievances

After noting down the grievances raised by the doctors, the MP included points from her first-hand experience of the situation in the bill and submitted it to Parliament. At that point, nobody was optimistic that it would pass, the MP recalled.

But the bill was viewed favourably by the government, with assurances being given that it would be acted upon. In the Parliamentary session of December 5th, an urgent bill was introduced by none other than members of the vetting committee, and it was widely circulated through the media, with the committee members claiming ownership of the bill, MP Maryam explained.

The MP also alleged that the vetting committee, which consists of other MPs, had purposefully delayed her bill submission in August and finally plagiarised it in December by introducing it urgently and then claiming the limelight through the media, leaving her no time to react to the plagiarism. She is planning to highlight this in the parliamentary session today, MP Maryam told The Daily Tribune.