Everyone agrees that ruling in Bahrain has a long experience in manipulating political issues, with the aim of putting obstacles in the opposition's path, when it comes to any detail that attracts criticism and illustrates sources of corruption. 

This strategy has not changed in the new government formation, despite adding 13 new faces, who serve the regime as well with regards to demands for change. They were added in order to send messages to the West that reform is on the right track and that discrimination and the family's total control over the state no longer exist.

However, how useful is it for the Al Khalifa family to be represented only by about 16% of the new political structure appointed by the king? 

If we return to the root of the problem, it is clearly seen that the positions of the new ministers in the new government will not change from the official perspective, as they will maintain their place as mere tools in the Crown Prince's hand. The difference is that 54% of them were referred to "Secretariat" tasks under the umbrella of the so-called "Technocrats Government". Some are expected to be excluded under the pretext of performance failure after the next parliamentary elections a few months later.

On the ground, in a clearer way, the path that the new Minister of Health, Jalila Al-Sayed, is charting for the ministry she recently occupied - for example, will not be achieved in any way as long as the President of the Supreme Council of Health, Lt. General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, still controls the decisions and long-term strategic policies, which withdraws the actual powers of the minister in this regard. 

This official decision-making control is also applied in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, for example, with Undersecretary Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa controlling all the ministry, which means that Minister Wael Al-Mubarak, who was transferred from electricity to municipalities, will have no powers, or slight and limited powers. The list is so long. 

This scene undermines everything Al Khalifa is trying to show in the media, to appear that the family is changing the habit and reducing their monopoly of positions, and to claim that they have achieved political partnership. However, the truth is different. The ruling family is still the one holding the reins and is still formulating formal reform in a way that commensurates with what the period needs.

It is a type of so-called reform that is thoroughly studied during the internal sessions of the King of Bahrain and his son Salman, and the message is clear: "Matters are governed by us".

Lebanese journalist 

Arabic Version