Minister terms allegations of Sunni bias 'a political game'

Manama: Bahrain's Social Development Minister yesterday dismissed charges that she is biased towards Sunni candidates and termed them as "a self-serving political game".

Dr Fatima Al Belushi, who last year became the second woman to be given a ministerial portfolio in the government, was on Tuesday accused of displaying public support to a group of candidates in the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections by attending a social function they helped to organise.

"The minister should have distanced herself from politically-driven functions because of the implications and consequences," Democratic National Action politburo head Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi was quoted as saying in a local newspaper on Tuesday.

"It is not the first time that she shows her support to specific groups and has recently patronised a drama about women wearing veils. She should be the minister of society at large and not just the minister of the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.

Three of the organisers to celebrate mid-Ramadan were members of Al Menbar Islamic Society, the political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Bah-rain, and critics believed that the minister, perceived to be an Al Menbar sympathiser, should not have displayed public support.

But Dr Fatima in a press statement yesterday denied that she belonged to Al Menbar "or to any political movement" and attributed the attacks against her to "an electoral game in which she had no interest".

"As a minister, I do not endorse any candidate and there is no minister who does it. Since when does attending a party to mark mid-Ramadan constitute an expression of political support?" she asked.

Dr Fatima who wears the veil (hijab) said she was being targeted because of her deep commitment to Islamic precepts.

"I have contacts with all people regardless of their affiliations and as a minister I am responsible before God and to the government about providing the best services.

"But there are those who wish to portray me as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood because I watched a play about veiled Muslim women and I myself wear a veil," she said.

"I see this as an attempt to undermine the credibility of veiled women and doubt their competence and aptitudes."