Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the perceptions of the Shia in Bahrain as to the legitimacy of the Alkhalifa government in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We follow the political situation closely in Bahrain, including Shia interests. We encourage all political parties, to engage constructively in political dialogue in order to reach an inclusive political settlement. Despite the opposition’s decision to boycott the 2014 elections, we commended the participation of a broad range of candidates which saw 14 independent Shia candidates win seats, of which three were women.