Bahrain's King Hamad opened on Saturday a joint session of parliament with a call to fight corruption and unemployment 27 years after the house was abolished for obstructing the government.
"Together we will work for the economic development of Bahrain, to settle the problem of unemployment and to fight corruption," King Hamad stated in a speech.
He was addressing forty lawmakers elected in October and 40 designated members of the consultative council meeting together for the first time as the monarchy's national council.
The king praised the landmark session, the first since his father Emir Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa dissolved parliament back in 1975, as the "fondest moment in my life and in the nation's".
"We have looked forward to this moment for a long time," he said.
However, he urged parliament members to look forwards and to focus on practical matters like unemployment and the economy.
"It's time to get down to work. We need achievements. Our people are interested only in actions," he said.
"Together we will work for the economic development of Bahrain, to settle the problem of unemployment and to fight corruption."
Furthermore, the king told members of parliament that he was committed to the constitutional reform process he launched on taking over from his father in 1999.
However, he warned the opposition which long campaigned for the parliament's restoration that there were limits to the new tolerance, AFP said.
"Bahrain will remain an open society in which dissenting opinions are accepted as long as the opposition remains committed to this land and 100 percent faithful to Bahrain," he said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
