Photo Credit: Flickr user Pricey
On March 22, King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain removed Minister of State Mansour Bin Rajab from his post. The dismissal was handed down four days after Minister Rajab had been arrested and interrogated by the Interior Ministry in connection with his alleged involvement in an international money laundering scheme uncovered by the Anti-Money Laundering Directorate, which has been investigating Rajab for the last year. The next day, Rajab was formally accused of laundering at least US$8 million, although reports indicate a possible total of up to US$31 million. The actions against Rajab are historically significant in terms of both Bahrain’s record of limited anticorruption efforts and the immunity that has traditionally been afforded senior government officials. Rajab became the first government minister to be criminally charged since Bahrain gained independence in 1971 and the highest Bahraini government official to ever be charged with corruption. As such, a first glance the Rajab case serves as a rare example of a concrete government attempt to quash high-level graft, and possibly as an indication of stronger government commitment to its campaign against official corruption. That said, the context of Bahrain’s recent governance trajectory means that any enthusiasm about the significance of a given case must be tempered.
As an important government official who previously served on the country’s Consultative Council (Majils al-Shura) and also as minister of municipalities and agriculture, Rajab’s fall should be viewed as a positive development insofar as past corruption cases have almost exclusively targeted low and mid-level officials. As the 2010 Countries at the Crossroads report explains, despite the fact that the government has in recent years ramped up its efforts to uproot graft within the lower-level bureaucracy, in addition to improving levels of government transparency, high-ranking government officials have continued to abuse their offices for private gain while enjoying de facto immunity. Although the government has pursued cases against the heads of state-owned enterprises, it has generally neglected to prosecute officials in the upper echelons of the administration, many of who either belong or retain close ties to the royal al-Khalifa family.Nevertheless, the positive implications of the Rajab case may not be so cut and dry. Other senior officials, including members of the royal family who have historically been above the law, may have also been involved in the scheme. If this limits the scope of the case, the importance of Rajab’s removal will be viewed as a tentative, incremental step toward cleaner government rather than a serious blow against corruption. The announcement on March 25 of a ban on media reporting on the case is one warning sign. Unfortunately, Bahrain’s decision to muffle public discussion of the matter is perhaps a more accurate illustration of the country’s recent governance climate than the Rajab case. As the 2010 Crossroads report details, Bahrain has registered a downward trend on several governance issues after showing signs of improvement following the 2006 parliamentary elections. The significant deterioration on freedom of expression forms just one part of a general decline on Accountability and Public Voice issues. Most significantly, the number of cases brought against journalists who cover contentious issues such as corruption scandals and human rights abuses has been on the rise. Bahrain also slipped on civil liberties protections, as attacks against government-critical political activists and citizens increased, freedom of association was restricted, and freedom of religion declined as the tensions between the Sunni government and the Shiite majority heightened. Likewise, a downgrade in the Rule of Law section reflected weak judicial independence and capacity. All of these troubling elements point to the continued existence of a closed regime in which the royal family and other high-level officials concentrate power in their own hands while restricting political space for public commentary and criticism.
Bahrain has a chance to prove that its stated commitment to combating corruption and equality before the law is more than just rhetoric. As mentioned, Bahrain has already begun to address some aspects of its corruption problem, which enabled the country to receive an upgrade on its Anticorruption and Transparency record in this year’s survey. Nevertheless, the persistence of other unfavorable governance practices means that much more than one dismissal and arrest will be needed before any discussion can occur about a definitive trend toward improved democratic governance.