Bahrain Mirror: A royal order is to be issued today to summon the House of Representatives and Shura Council to convene on Sunday and Tuesday in order to discuss a new constitutional amendment, the Gulf agreement related to the value added tax (VAT) and abolish the retirement of MPs, Shura members and members of municipal councils, according to information.

The MPs received a message on Thursday (October 4, 2018) at noon saying that: Your Excellencies the MPs: A (call) to attend the session of the House of Representatives in an (extraordinary) meeting, which will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 7, 2018 in the sessions hall in the Shura Building. (with the Regards of the MPs Affairs Department)

Reuters announced a couple of days ago that Bahrain plans to get structural reforms through parliament before a November election, including the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) and changes to the pension system.

The reforms are part of efforts to fix public finances hit hard by the drop in oil prices which also pushed Bahrain's dinar to its lowest in more than a decade.

Arabic Version