Population figures spark debate in parliament

Manama: The duel between Al Wefaq Society and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Shaikh Ahmad Bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa has intensified after MPs questioned the veracity of population figures.

Shaikh Ahmad said the population of Bahrain was 1,046,814, of whom 529,446 were Bahrainis.

Ali Salman, head of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's largest political and religious formation, disputed the numbers.

"Based on a normal annual population growth rate of 2.7 per cent for Bahrainis, and given the 1981 census, which estimated the Bahraini population as 238,420, there should be 447,531 Bahrainis today," Salman said.

"It simply means that the additional figure of 81,915 people represents the number of the politically naturalised Bahrainis," he said. "The high number of naturalised Bahrainis means that 10,000 poor Bahraini families have been robbed of their livelihood and lost their chances to have decent homes. It also means that our classrooms have now to accommodate 32 students, up from 26 in the 1990s," Salman said.

"The growth rate per year is 3.6 per cent for Bahrainis .... The rate for expatriates is around 8.8 per cent annually," Shaikh Ahmad said.