Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive):  The Bahraini king disappointed many citizens who were optimistic after his meeting with senior Shiite cleric Sayed Abdullah Al-Ghuraifi, and his son's meeting with a delegation from the Bahrain Economic Forum headed by economist Taqi Al-Zeera to hand over a petition calling him to start fresh and turn the page of 2011.

Accession Day or National Day (December 16, 2020) was a tool to know how and where these movements could lead, but nothing happened. The occasion passed dimly, and quickly. There was nothing to support the optimism of optimists. What is new; however, this year is Benjamin Netanyahu's congratulatory message to the Bahraini king and a delegation in Tel Aviv- in the name of Bahrain- including an Ahwazi dissident.

The king seemed during the National Day speech in another world entirely. He spoke of the creation of a medal in the name of his son and the continuation of the path of modernization and the renaissance of the state, which no longer knows where it's at and where it's heading in a country that is almost financially bankrupt, begging the Gulf States for aid in light of a crisis that has persisted since 2011.

It seems that there is nothing in the near horizon that would change the deadlock of the current status quo and stir political life, which has been taken over by the security apparatuse, steering it as it pleases.

The new Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa who has recently assumed the post doesn't seem in a hurry. He allowed a delegation of independents of more than 100 citizens to hand over a petition, which is considered a precedent. At the same time, he left room for his family's lobbyists to pursue them and ask them to withdraw their signatures, which some of the signatories were indeed subjected to.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Atiyatullah, minister of follow-up at the Royal Court, senses the movement of power in his family. Thus, he instructed his boys to establish an army called "electronic army" to quarrel with the crown prince and the prime minister, while camouflaging their activity by putting the crown prince photo on their accounts. The army began its campaign by threatening independent Sunni activists. 

There is nothing new on this year's National Day. Bahrain is still the same, suffering from its chronic diseases, which will carry on into 2021, while still dreaming to be like the UAE, a "normalizer" and "chic" country but with empty pockets.

Arabic Version