Bahrain’s crown prince takes over as prime minister after grand-uncle laid to rest
- Sheikh Salman, 51, was once a reformist, pushing for dialogue with the opposition but ultimately lost out to hardliners
- The late Sheikh Khalifa’s influence opened him up to accusations of corruption that came to the fore in the 2011 uprising
Viewed early on as a reformist within the ruling family, Sheikh Salman, 51, was instrumental in short-lived efforts to restore parliamentary life to the small Gulf Arab country and build trust between the Sunni Muslim royal family and a Shiite majority that had long complained of discrimination.
Those efforts, opposed by the late prime minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa – who died on Wednesday at the age of 84 after the US flew his body back from hospital there – came apart as the Arab spring uprising swept the island in 2011.
The crown prince pushed for dialogue with Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition party but ultimately lost out to hardliners who turned to Saudi Arabia for help, crushing protests and rounding up political opponents as the island’s brief experiment with democratisation became ensnared in a broader struggle between Saudi Arabia and its Shiite rival Iran.
“Security is not the only guarantor of stability,” Sheikh Salman said in 2012 as the crackdown gathered strength. “Without justice there can no freedom, and without freedom there can be no true security.”
As the Arab spring passed, the country became increasingly financially beholden to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – which offered multibillion-dollar bailouts and whose authoritarian leaders have no interest in democratisation on their doorstep.