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Manama: Bahrain's parliament session was almost adjourned for the fifth time yesterday as the bitter dispute between MPs to question a minister deepened.
However, under intense pressure to deliver on their promises to improve people's living conditions, they agreed to go ahead with their weekly meeting.
The session was initially postponed after the required quota was not met as some MPs refrained from entering the hall. Following frantic efforts to avoid adjourning the session, the MPs agreed to meet but only to discuss ways to distribute the $106 million [about Dh389 million] earmarked by the government to fight spiralling prices.
The MPs had come under intense fire from the population and the press for failing to discuss the assistance fund and waded instead into disputes that stalled the work of parliament and halted the distribution of funds to needy families.
"I think that we should postpone all attempts to question him until the end of this term so that we can proceed with other issues. We will all then use the remaining of this term and the summer recess to reach a consensus that will enable the council to overcome the obstacles and to ensure that there are no disruptions in the next term," Jasem Hussain, representing Al Wefaq, yesterday told Gulf News.
"It is a very delicate situation and we should address it wisely so that we do not disappoint the people who have been expecting so much from the Council of Representatives," he said.
The four other sessions were postponed after the MPs failed to agree on ways to address a proposal by Al Wefaq, the largest bloc with 17 members, but short of a simple majority, to interrogate a minister.
The society claims that the state minister for cabinet affairs Shaikh Ahmad Bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa should be quizzed for alleged financial irregularities and his role in a plot to rig the 2006 elections.
However, the other blocs and independent MPs reject the claims on the grounds that they are unconstitutional and blame Al Wefaq for holding personal grudges against the minister.
The dispute, degenerating into name-calling at times, has brought the parliament to a standstill for five weeks and raised questions about its future.
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