The Political Council of the February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition issued a statement on the occasion of the convening of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in the capital, Manama, which reads as follows:
In The Name of Allah, The Merciful
In the February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition, we express our strongest expressions of censure and condemnation of the convening of the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Bahrain, and we believe that the response to the Al-Khalifa regime’s request to host this meeting in Manama represents a negative position in international relations, which dominates a large portion of it by the colonial interests dictated by the arrogant governments in the world at the expense of the rights and dignity of peoples.
We call on the real parliamentary delegations that chose to attend and participate in the meeting that resolutely reject normalization of relations with the Zionist entity and raising the voice loudly and clearly to reveal the truth about the lost parliamentary life in Bahrain, and announcing its condemnation of the absolute and corrupt concentration of power in the Al-Khalifa family’s hands and its servants, and the absence of a legitimate constitution in the country, as well as to the disastrous impact of the regime’s extensive destruction inflicted on civil life by poisoning political and social space with successive policies of: coercion, militarization, security and political repression.
In this regard, we send the following messages to the management of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the parliamentary delegations participating in the Manama meeting, with the exception of the Zionist entity delegation:
1- We remind the participants in the meeting of the efforts made by the opposition forces in Bahrain to face the political and security setbacks imposed by the regime after the coup against the country’s constitution, and its imposition of the separate constitution of 2022, as it took steps to consolidate the authoritarian family rule, to take a bloodier turn after the launching of the February 14 Revolution in 2011. At this level, the coalition held a referendum in November 2014, which coincided with the boycott of the parliamentary elections of that year by the opposition forces. International agencies and independent observers witnessed the fairness of the referendum which was moderated by an independent national body in which the people from various regions have been heavily involved which established public centres to receive citizens, despite the attacks by the mercenary forces on the referendum centres, where the participants affirmed – in an overwhelming proportion – the people’s right to self-determination and to determine the form of the political system they want. The Coalition confirmed the results of the referendum through a series of constitutional drafts, including the draft people’s petition in November 2018, which provided a practical framework for the popular referendum by emphasizing the need to elect a constituent assembly to draft a democratic constitution for the country. In November 2022, the coalition – in cooperation with other political forces – announced the ‘’Constitutional Declaration’’ document that provided an additional perspective for Bahrain to move towards a true constitutional life and to emerge from the ravages of Al-Khalifa’s tyranny and its disasters to the people and the country.
2- The results of the popular referendum (2014), the popular petition (2018), as well as the signing of the Constitutional Declaration (2022); are overwhelming political and popular documents on the reality of what is happening in the country, and they should be the focus of the legitimate parliaments in the world’s countries. Here, the Coalition calls on the members of the conference to view these documents as the voice of the absent people and stresses that these documents reflect part of struggle’s will to the people of Bahrain and their continued aspiration to realize their natural right in a modern and just Constitution.
3- We believe in the Coalition that agreeing to host the meetings of the Parliamentary Union by the regime is essentially a wrong and immoral decision that the regime will continue to violate and suppress freedom under this pretext, as shown by the campaign of arrests that affected the people and activists, and the closure of doors to independent international organizations, the intimidation of activists and the opponents to prevent them from exposing the constitutional backwardness that pervades the country, and to explain the emptiness of the parliament and its laughter administered by the authority from A to Z, and as a result it doesn’t get any popular support, as demonstrated by the great boycott of the 2022 elections. Therefore, we hold the Union administration direct responsibility for the consequences of the regime’s continuing to commit these violations coinciding with its meetings, while at the same time, we hope that the rightful and conscientious deputies participating in the conference – with the exception of the Zionist delegation – will raise their voices with the word of truth in the face of the unjust Al-Khalifa regime, and will remove the lies and deception that the regime spreads over the meetings of the conference, to cover up the deteriorating reality in the country.
In conclusion, we affirm that the revolution of the people of Bahrain is going on and will not stop until it achieves the full popular demands and the right to self-determination. This march will never be blocked or broken by the regime’s tricks and its cunning tricks, nor will it be broken by its continued terrorism and crimes for years and decades, and we stress that this civilized and wise struggle reflects the firm choice of the people of Bahrain – with all its groups and components – in building a state of rights and justice in the country.
The Political Council of the February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition
Saturday, March 11, 2023 AD
Statement: We Hold the Inter-Parliamentary Union Responsible for the Violations Accompanying its Meeting in Bahrain… and We Call on those Gathered to Adopt the Political Right of the People
