Bahrain Mirror: Prominent Bahraini opposition figure Ali Al-Aswad said the Bahraini government's official position on recent events in Saudi Arabia was "siding with party that has the upper hand."

"If [it was the other way around and] former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were to detain Mohammed bin Salman, the Government of Bahrain would support him as well, and if one party were to turn against another, the cable of congratulations would be ready and so on," Al-Aswad explained in a series of tweets posted on his official Twitter account on Monday (November 6, 2017).

"The changes in Saudi Arabia themselves do not appeal to the authorities in Bahrain, but at the end of the month, we need the Abu Safah field check and it is difficult to have an attitude that contradicts the will of the [Saudi] government," he added.

He went on to say that "there are serious Saudi fears of any popular movement demanding democracy in Bahrain, which explains why their military forces stayed for nearly 80 months, which is a huge financial cost, and what's more dangerous is that there is a wing in the government that does not want these Saudi and Emirati forces to leave in order to promote that there are Iranian schemes, and now there is the Qatari issue as well."

"We in Bahrain are not concerned with the internal Saudi dispute and the tribal purge. We must pay heed to real development, financial independence, diversifying sources of income, examine our diplomatic relations and develop international means of communication instead of attacking other countries and giving Bahrain a bad image through official state statements," stressed the former MP.

Concluding his comments, Al-Aswad further stated that "the national opposition parties believe that the continuation of the current government that is causing political, economic and social crises will not lead Bahrain to serious and sustainable stability. The solution in Bahrain must be a political one, based on the notion of ​​partnership as is the case of long-standing constitutional monarchies and any other patchwork solution will not work."

Arabic Version