Thread by @MARYAMALKHAWAJA

Khalifa Salman Alkhalifa died today, he was the worlds longest unelected Prime Minister, having been for 50 years and would have continued being PM for as long as he’s alive. So who was he? #Bahrain

Khalifa was known as the person responsible for many of the crackdowns in #Bahrain, and was known for being close to the #Saudi’s. People even had a prayer they would say without mentioning his name, wishing for his demise because of how cruel he was known to be

He was known for saying: “Shia’s are like an Iranian rug, the more you step on them the better they become”. Popularly, he was considered the actual ruler of #Bahrain, and was known as someone who always pushed for ruling with an iron fist.

Generally, people spoke about his corruption, his cruelty, but never mentioned his name out of fear. This was broken when my father named him as responsible for the economic and political problems in #Bahrain. My father was arrested the next day

But my father’s speech in September 2004 broke a a long held tradition of not naming names, and protests broke out in #Bahrain calling for the Prime Minister to step down, by name - which is also why the deceased pm held a personal vendetta against my father

As far as we know, part of the reason my father was tortured so severely, and why he wasn’t released in 2012 and is still in prison despite international attempts to release him, is because of the PMs personal issue with him… #Bahrain

To add to the speech in 2004, my father also delivered a statement at the #UN Human Rights Council criticizing the PM, which the #Bahrain mission tried to shut down unsuccessfully.
Up until 2010, Khalifa was seen as being the force behind every crackdown..

but in 2010 that shifted, when instead of the usual good cop/bad cop play between the PM and the monarch/crown prince, the latter came out in support of the crackdown. The 2010 crackdown is what helped set the stage for the 2011 uprising in #Bahrain

The PM was also very well known for his corruption, for example, he bought the financial harbour land for 1 BHD, equivelant to 2,6 USD - which is potentially worth millions, and that’s just one example on an extremely LONG list of how corrupt he was..

While his power & influence reduced in very recent years, the news of his death will be welcomed by so many in #Bahrain even though people may not be on the streets today giving out sweets and celebrating, many will even publicly offer condolences because of the fear & oppression

My biggest regret is we never got to hold him accountable, in a court of justice, for all his crimes against the people of #Bahrain
I’m writing these tweets knowing there may be repercussions for my father and family in #Bahrain, but I was taught not to be silent or self-censor