Bahrain is in mourning at the passing of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, may God rest his soul.
This exceptional figure had a distinguished charisma that he carried in the administration of government since 1971.
This article is not enough to write about him; it deserves a book or a series of books to cover his countless achievements.
The late Premier was also the world’s longest-serving Prime Minister. This in itself is an achievement. And why not, as long as he carried out his responsibilities and constituted a stabilising factor for the government while being aware of its minutest details.
Whoever has read about him and the positions he held throughout these years is fully aware that his imprint is clear and evident in all spheres and his sophistication, expertise and competence has made Bahrain’s future bright.
In 1954, he was appointed to the rent committee to study the rent problem after the end of the Second World War. He took over as a member of the Knowledge Council in 1956 and his contributions to the advancement of the educational movement are legendary as Bahrain became a leading light at the Gulf level.
In 1957, he was appointed Chairman of the Knowledge Council and was able to draw up an integrated educational policy, which reflected positively on the output of school and higher education and the benefit of generations in enriching and supporting them.
In 1957, he was also appointed a member of the Electricity Committee in order to lay down the appropriate service policy to deliver electricity to various parts of the country. In addition, his appointment as the head of finance in 1960 left a great impact in charting the development and economic path.
His appointment as mayor of Manama in 1962 was in addition to municipal work and service laws to provide the best services to citizens.
He was appointed Chairman of the Currency Board in 1964 and entrusted with issuing a Bahraini national currency. He was able to achieve this in record time.
In 1965, he was entrusted with the tasks of issuing foreigner permits, residency and immigration.
In 1971, after Bahrain gained its independence, he was appointed Prime Minister and took over as Chairman of the Supreme Defence Council in 1973.
In 1980, he was appointed Chairman of the Supreme Petroleum Council, and in 1982 Chairman of the Civil Service Bureau. In 2000, he chaired the Supreme Council for Economic Development.
What I would like to show to the reader is that the late Premier, through these long and numerous stations, gained extensive experience, sophistication and know-how that was a treasure in the field of governance, and very frankly, that period before and even after independence was not easy as some believe since it required hard work and tremendous efforts to achieve the government’s goals at the time, especially in light of the scarcity of capabilities and resources.
Far from his inimitable management in the crises that afflicted Bahrain, which is credited to him because of his charisma and the strong personality that he possessed, he had a big heart and was compassionate to everyone. He followed every little and major thing that concerned the citizen and scanned everything in the local newspapers.
He did not distinguish between his people, and everyone knows that he was constantly directing his ministers in the government to go to the street and meet the needs of the people as well as follow up everything written and accept constructive criticism. He always consulted with all segments of Bahraini society.
Our prayers are for His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister, to bestow on him health and longevity and help him assume the responsibilities entrusted to him, for he is undoubtedly a good successor to the best predecessor under the leader of our renaissance, our beloved King.
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