TBK Asks - What were you doing when the Prime Minister of Bahrain died?

It was one of those moments you never forget. Like when John Lenon was shot or President whatever his name was. Joseph read out loud the text from his wife:

"The Prime Minister of Bahrain died today at the Mayo Clinic in America"

It was Wednesday 11.11.2020 at around Noon. We all sprang to action googling Mayo clinic, BBC, CNN for evidence that this was not Fake news. Then the speculation started as to how many days mourning there would be and would the announcement come before the early shift left at 3 pm.

I drove home and found the above photo on a colleagues Facebook (thanks Hani) and added it to mine, and quickly searched through the international and local media sites. Nothing. I had to go home as I am the only one without a mobile at work, so I was the only one who did not spend all day on YouTube, Facebook and other social media to keep up to date with what is happening in the world.

As I was at home, I heard several helicopters fly over my house to the King's Palace at Sakhir which is close to Awali, and then as I was about to drive back a huge aircraft took off from the Sakhir Airbase, next to the Palace, to collect the PM's body from USA. In the Muslim world bodies must be returned home immediately and buried the same day, with the family leading the prayers before the burial. The friends visit the family of the deceased to pay their respects and give their Condolences. As there are 3,000 members of the Khalifa family and the PM was well respected on the world stage and very popular with the Sunnis in Bahrain there was much to be done. However, it was all over a lot faster than the death of Queen Elizabeth in the UK 2 years later.

There was a false alarm at 2 pm when the Chairman and Chief Executive (everyone had to do two jobs back then to save money in the Oil Crisis) emailed a gushing tribute to the PM, but no mention of days off. That was left to the GM HR and arrived 30 mins later telling us that Thursday, Friday and Saturday would be Public Holidays and days of mourning when all flags would be flown at half-mast and BFC would make a rare closure (but Alosra would still be open!). Thomas wisely asked if the weekend was a Public Holiday did that mean we had Sunday and Monday as days off. Honestly, you give some people three days off and they want five!). Someone commented (I won't name him as he wanted to stay in Bahrain until February to get his end of contract payment) that it would have been better if the PM had died on a Friday and then we would have had Friday to Tuesday off)

By three thirty the office fell silent, and the Local and international media caught on to the news and went crazy publishing tributes they had obviously held in draft in preparation.

"Bahrain's Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the world's longest serving prime minister and a staunch ally of neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the United States, has died, the royal palace announced on Wednesday.

Sheikh Khalifa, a dominant figure in the Gulf island's politics for much of his near half century in power, passed away on Wednesday morning at Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain's state news agency said.

The uncle of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Sheikh Khalifa, 84, had served as prime minister since a year before the kingdom declared independence from Britain in 1971.

The al-Khalifa family has ruled since 1783.

His stern response to pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in 2011, and criticism of similar unrest across the Arab world, underlined what for many was the defining characteristic of his career, namely a stalwart defence of dynastic rule.

In August, Sheikh Kahlifa left the kingdom for what official media called at the time "a private visit abroad".

Earlier this year, he spent time in Germany for unspecified medical treatment, returning to Bahrain in March, Reuters reported.

The burial ceremony will take place upon the repatriation of his body and the funeral will be limited to a specific number of relatives, Bahrain's state news agency said.

Official mourning has been declared for a week and government ministries and departments will close for three days starting on Thursday.

Bahrain is the home base of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet."

Source: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bahrain-prime-minister-sheikh-khalifa-dies-aged-84 (accessed 11.11.2020)

I am not sure why they always add that last line - maybe to ensure it is picked up by the American press.

Just one of many memes that appeared on the internet

As I revisit this blog prior to its final publication, two years after I wrote it, it has just been announced that Britain's latest Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who I had never heard of, has handed in her resignation after just 44 days, to the new King Charles. As his father before him he could not resist a sarcastic remark, saying " Oh Dear, back again!". Fairy Liquid was also quick off the mark to release an advert to say one bottle lasts longer than three Conservative leaders!

Back in Bahrain the next question was would everything close immediately. I asked Joe to check if the Zallaq food festival would be open on Wednesday night as he lives next to it at the FLY Residences. I received an Email from Chester in Manila to say someone called Joe had emailed him to say the food festival would be open (he then managed the email for this blog!) and so Corleen and I headed out to get our Thai food (see another Blog about this!) . We noticed by then all the flags were at half-mast and there were a lot of Traffic Police and Ministry of Interior Vehicles at all the junctions.

On Thursday night I took a friend to Riffa, and we got stuck in traffic as they closed off all the roads to the Prime Ministers house. On Friday morning at 5 am when I went to collect Jake there were hundreds of soldiers outside the Riffa Mosque and camera crews. We just made it home before they closed the road as the King and Crown Prince and Senior members of the Royal Family and Bahrain Defense Force arrived to lead the prayers for the Prime Minister at around 6 am and then proceeded to the Hunaiaya Cemetery where he was buried around 7 am in a simple grave.

"He was buried in a tomb in the city of Al Riffa. His funeral was attended by Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman Bin Hamad, and senior members of the ruling family as well as commanders of the kingdom’s army and security forces, Bahrain’s news agency BNA reported."

Source: GulfNews.com (accessed 14.11.2020)

The Prime Minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa

There was even a quote on Google which I read with interest:

"The Net Worth of the Bahrain Royal Family is estimated at US$ 2 billion. His father the King of Bahrain is the owner of the yacht Alwaeli."

By then (4 pm) our Janitor was cleaning and had heard the news and so I was reading the news to him. He wanted to know how much US$ 2 billion was in Rupees! Next the speculation started as to who would take over from the Prime Minister and then the King Announced (via a Royal Circular rather than Twitter (this is Bahrain, and we do things properly, unlike POTUS in USA) that the Crown Prince would now become Prime Minister. Looks like BAPCO is not the only company where they have to do two jobs!

Wikipedia, ever current, updates us as follows:

"In Bahrain, the Prime Minister is the head of government of the country. According to the Constitution of Bahrain, the Prime Minister is appointed directly by the King, and needs not be an elected member of the Council of Representatives.

Bahrain has had only two Prime Ministers since the country's independence, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the paternal uncle of the reigning King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the crown prince. Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa passed away on 11th November 2020.^[3]

Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was the Deputy King, Crown Prince,^[4] heir apparent and since March 2013 has been First Deputy Prime Minister.^[5] He was also the deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defense Force. There are also four Deputy Prime Ministers: Muhammad ibn Mubarak ibn Hamad Al Khalifah, Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, and Jawad Al Arrayed."

List of officeholders (1970–present)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa (1935–2020)	10 January 1970	11 November 2020 †	50 years, 306 days	^[3]
2		Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (born 1969)	11 November 2020	Incumbent	2 days	^[6]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Bahrain (accessed 14.11.2020)

They even have a cute little table showing Bahrain's Prime Minister's, Past and Present (that would get 100% in an ILM assignment on Leadership! Unfortunately, there is not enough space in the blog to add a list of corresponding British Prime Ministers in the same Time period!

When I originally wrote this blog on 14.11.2020 we were in our third day of mourning. I hope you found the blog interesting and informative. Just like 9/11 and the death of Queen Elizabeth in the UK we will always remember the 11th of November. It was: