Manama–Bahrain’s newly-formed and first ever specifically Sunni coalition, the National Unity Assembly (NUA), raised fears that the country’s politics would tread along sectarian lines.
The one-week old group held their second mass rally in the face of the Pearl Roundabout opposition, lead by the National Coalition (NC). Both groups still call for peaceful and non-disruptive manifestations, but clashes between Sunni and Shia civilians in the city of Madinat Hamad yesterday does not bode well for that prospect.
Although NUA leaders do not consider their group to be part of the opposition, they deny that the government created them. In a Thursday address, NUA leader Abdullatif al-Mahmood confirmed his group’s loyalty to the royal family and said it would heed the Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa’s call for dialogue. Opposing the NC precondition that the government be sacked, he said that “conceding to these points will only lead to more damage, destruction, and sectarian strife.”
According to reports, the NC has dropped the precondition for dialogue. Nevertheless, it continues to call for the country’s return to a constitutional monarchy and a change in the government’s leadership.
NC leaders claim the NUA was created by the government to aggravate sectarian strife.
Formed only a week ago, the assembly–previously referred to as the National Unity Bloc–claims to represent a coalition of predominantly Sunni groups that have seldom been politically active. The group is supposed to embody what pro-government columnist Sawsan al-Shaer labelled, “the giant’s awakening.” She theorized that a “silent (and mostly Sunni) majority” in Bahrain is not necessarily loyal to the government. Nevertheless, it will agree to nothing less than the status quo when it comes to the ruling order.
The NUA is composed not only of religious groups, but also of liberal and borderline secular ones. Nevertheless, the choice of al-Fateh mosque–a Sunni mosque and Bahrain’s largest– as the backdrop for both of their rallies, leaves little doubt that this group represents one specific denomination. “The aim is to balance the public discourse,” said Issa Jassim, a member of NUA’s organizational committee.
The group contains Islamic groups such as the National Islamic Forum and the Wassat Arab and Democratic Party. The parties, rooted in Islamic social work, were formed in 2006 and 2002 respectively. Both maintain their grassroots approach while basing their political activism on a Sunni platform.
The NUA is also composed of the liberal National Justice Movement. It traces its roots to Bahraini leftist activism. One of their members Abdullah Hashem, who is also on the NUA’s leadership committee, was a founding member of a leftist, Arab nationalist group called Wa’ad.
Hashem takes a pragmatic approach to his participation with the NUA. “We reject slogans that call for taking down the government and see the importance of dialogue with the ruling family. Bahrain is located in a sensitive geo-political region dominated by Saudi Arabia. This country will never agree to a ruling system other than the status quo,” he said. He also believes that, while Bahrain has a while to go before it can fully function as a constitutional monarchy, it presents the promise of future reform. “We are with the ‘other side’ in their basic demands,” he said. “It is important though that dialogue is always on the table.”
The coalition, according to Jassim, is meant to mobilize all of these disparate groups and “revive this rotting corpse [of Sunni activism] that has been silent for 30 years.”
State-run Bahraini media as well as government loyalists claim that more than 300,000 people attended the National Unity Assemblies’ rally yesterday at al-Fateh mosque. For a country with a national population of around 600,000, this would mean that more than half of the island’s citizens showed up for the event. Other estimates maximize the potential figure at 100,000. Either way, the event had a significant showing.
Al-Mahmood’s keynote speech contained four major elements: unconditioned support for the ruling family and the government, a condemnation of protests by the opposition, government demands, and words of wisdom for his followers.
Al-Mahmood expressed dismay at the cabinet reshuffling that occurred. “Any such changes conducted in such a hasty and individual manner may make the situation worse,” he said.
Due to leftist and Shi’a domination of political activism in Bahrain over the past 40 years, Sunnis have tended to be identified as government loyalists. Al-Mahmood denies this claim, saying that just because the ruling family is Sunni does not mean that it only seeks to preserve Sunni interests.
The NUA addresses many broader issues in society that affect Shi’a groups as well. Al-Mahmood called on the government to “look into the cases of certain prisoners” and “activate some laws that concern housing and minimum wage.”
Despite the nature of some of its demands, the NUA refused to entertain the possibility of joining the opposition. “The problem lies in the ceiling of requests. We refuse certain stances and slogans such as, ‘The people want the fall of the government,’” said Abdullah Hashem, a member of NUA’s leadership committee. Hashem was once a prominent member of Wa’ad.
While not specifying the opposition by name, Al-Mahmood urged high-ranking Shi’a clerics to play their part in “stopping acts… that aim to disrupt and damage.”
NC members are suspicious of the assembly. Leaders such as Khalil Mansour of Wefaq, a moderate Shi’a party, see it as a government creation “meant to foment sectarianism” in the country. Many on the ground in the Pearl Roundabout, the central location for Bahrain’s opposition protests, believe that the group is overhyped.
“Everyone at the rally is Indian or Pakistani. They couldn’t even get Bahraini’s out,” said Ali Ameen, a 22 year-old graduate who has been at the roundabout for 13 days.
Al-Mahmood does not deny that the group is Sunni by definition. However, he believes that the emergence of such a group promotes stability rather than instigates sectarianism. “There has always been a fear that Shi’a groups would dominate the reformist agenda because we’re not out on the scene. With the NUA, there’s a balance of voices heard,” he said.
The opposition claims the sit-in at Pearl Roundabout is “vital” while the NUA considers it insufferable. Though NUA leaders have stated that they share much common ground with what they call “the Shi’a opposition,” mutual demonization means that the tension will likely persist.
