Manama: A Bahraini lawmaker has called for setting up a research unit within the parliament.
“The unit will carry out studies and research work that will benefit the legislators with their work,” MP Hassan Bukhammas said on Tuesday.
The lawmaker said that he appreciated the idea when he was on an official visit within a parliamentary delegation to the Bundestag, the German parliament.
“We were told that the research unit conducted the work for the lawmakers to help them with their proposals and motions. This meant that they did not have to depend on outside sources and that they had their own sources for support,” he said.
Bukhammas who was elected in 2011 made the proposal at the weekly session as the lower chamber debated the merit of taxes and their effect on the economy.
Several lawmakers said that they needed to have access to research results before they could commit themselves to a line of thought.
The Research and External Relations Directorate-General in the Bundestag has 11 research sections in the Research Services that support MPs’ political work in parliament and the constituencies by supplying specialist information, analyses and expert opinions, the centre website says.
The topics covered by the research sections encompass the whole spectrum of legal and policy fields.
Bahrain has a major research centre, the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat).
The centre says that it is “dedicated to encouraging the use of research and dialogue to inform policy makers and interest groups and to increase understanding of current and emerging international issues in the pursuit of a prosperous and peaceful world for all”.
In addition to conducting research, it holds regular forums and conferences to debate current and emerging issues that impact the region.
