WUNRN
BAHRAIN - SUNNI FAMILY LAW PASSED BY
PARLIAMENT
SUNNI VS. SHIITE POSITIONS DIVIDED
ON FAMILY LEGAL ISSUES
|
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief May 14, 2009 |
|
Manama: Bahrain's lower house on Thursday endorsed a
much-awaited family law draft that aims to improve the legal status of
women. However, the draft law covers only Sunnis, after Al Wefaq, the
exclusive voice of Shiites in the lower house, has rejected the draft section
that applies to Shiites. Al Wefaq's refusal to endorse or even discuss a draft law that
governs personal status and family matters such as marriage, divorce and
custody, reflects the uncompromising rejection of such legislation from
senior Shiite leaders in Bahrain. According to the religious leaders, the parliament is not
qualified to debate or decide on family matters rooted in religious
jurisprudence. Only top Shiite references, such as Iraq-based Ayatollah Ali Al
Sistani, can legislate on such matters and his decisions must not be altered
or amended by any authority in Bahrain, they said. The government earlier this year submitted a draft for both
Sunnis and Shiites to the parliament, but eventually withdrew it after the
Shiite leaders opposed it vehemently. The government last month reintroduced
only the Sunni section of the draft, to the great dismay of Shiite women's
rights activists. The Sunni family law draft was passed on Thursday in a matter of
minutes with only three lawmakers from the Salafi Al Asala bloc, Abdul Halim
Murad, Ebrahim Bu Sandal and Hamad Al Muhanndi, rejecting it. The bloc had consulted with Salafi leaders in another Gulf
country and was advised to turn it down. Al Wefaq MPs, all Shiites, preferred to walk out when the debate
on the 147 articles of the draft started. "We wish to leave the floor for our peers the lawmakers to
decide the fate of the draft that concerns the sect of some of the citizens.
We do so out of our respect for the specific attributes of the sect and the
citizens' choices," Khalil Marzooq, MP for Al Wefaq and head of the
legislative and legal committee, said. However, he suggested changing the draft name from the draft of
the family law to the draft of the family law Sunni section. Twenty NGOs on Tuesday called in a letter to King Hamad Bin Eisa
Al Khalifa and to the parliament speakers for the delay of the endorsement by
the lower house of the family law draft that has only the Sunni section. The NGOs, representing women's rights activists, lawyers,
engineers and businesswomen, argued that the endorsement of the draft would
slow down efforts to issue a common family law and would deprive a large
number of Shiites from the protection of the Shiite section law drafted by
eminent Shiite scholars, but rejected by Al Wefaq and its mentors. |
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