With the ruling elites and the opposition groups ensuring that the Grand Prix of Bahrain will be safe and good for their country, should the F1 community be concerned?
Personally, I have to admit that every season I tend to watch only one Formula One race from start to finish. It is a narrow city circus of Monte Carlo, the Monaco Grand Prix: glamour, dynamic and with no space for mistakes. It takes place over the last weekend of May this year. This week, however, all eyes will be on the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir and the Bahrain GP – not entirely for all good reasons.
Amid the security concerns, it has been debated for a long time whether this GP should take place at all. The go-ahead decision has been eventually made but on the eve of the practice sessions it has still remained highly controversial. On Wednesday night, members of Force India F1 team were caught out in a clash between the protestors and the police forces. Although no-one was injured, the incident did not escape the attention of international media and sparked further comments over the rationale of the race.
For the world of the F1, this weekend will be like no other. The Bahrain Grand Prix takes place only 30 minutes drive from the capital Manama where day-to-day demonstrations are still very much active. And it is widely expected that due to the worldwide coverage of Formula 1, protests are to move closer to Sakhir this weekend.
Background
Although the majority of Bahrainis often claim otherwise, the domestic political agenda lies straight on the division between the Shī'a and the Sunni, and their big neighbours – Saudi Arabia and Iran. Despite nearly half of the population composed by foreigners, it is down to 65%-35% breakdown amongst the locals, in the Shī'a’s favour, that engineers local politics. The ruling circles are de facto the outnumbered Sunni.
Despite its small size, this Gulf island plays a pivotal geostrategic role for the security and economic implications between the regional powers of Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and Iran (Shī'a). The religious composure of the society and its location on the map inevitably made Bahrain a ticking bomb. It was the Arab Spring that has activated it.
Although Bahrain’s king Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa claimed last year in a Washington Post op-ed that his regime was forced into its ongoing brutal crackdown on political protest and dissent when “the legitimate demands of the opposition were hijacked by extremist elements with ties to foreign governments in the region”, Justin Gengler argues in Foreign Affairs that in the radicalisation of the local Shī'a “Bahrain’s rulers should look to themselves to explain it” as they are also at fault (LINK). Blaming Iran is easy, only partly accurate and blurs the picture of a complex phenomenon in the region.
For many, the FIA decision is perceived to be a political victory for the ruling Al Khalifa family and their closely associated business circles that will greatly benefit from the Grand Prix in economic terms.
Whether hosting a sporting event in a country that openly admits these violent actions is an acceptable decision or not, is arguable. An apartheid South Africa was widely boycotted in sports whereas China, the hosts of the previous Grand Prix and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, enjoys a successful spell of promoting the country via sport in the recent years.
Many human rights activists are disappointed with the FIA decision and consider this move as a vote of confidence for the ruling elites that openly admit the use of violence and oppression towards the opposition. According to Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa deputy director, Mr Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, “[w]ith the world's eyes on Bahrain as it prepares to host the Grand Prix, no one should be under any illusions that the country's human rights crisis is over”. (LINK). In a dramatic manner, a newly-elected British MP George Galloway appealed on Thursday night that “there is blood on the tracks and anyone who drives over them... will never be forgiven” in a hope to encourage a late walkout by the F1 drivers. At the time of making these remarks, only one driver, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, had questioned the decision to race. However, it was over the security concerns rather than the violation of human rights.
Yet, Dr Jasim Husain, a senior opposition figure, met visiting members of the media to emphasise why hosting a F1 Grand Prix is good also from the opposition’s perspective. “Most people in Bahrain are happy that F1 is back in Bahrain given its effects on the economy and social aspects, and see this as a sporting and economic event rather as a political issue,” he said, as quoted by F1 journalist Adam Cooper. “Bahrain is going to benefit. We are going to be on the international news for three days, and focussing on the positive implications. (...) Protests are definitely going to take place, we’ve been having protests before the event, and we are going to have them during and afterwards (...). Protests are very much peaceful.” To support these comments, another high profile leader of an opposition group Centre for Human Rights, Mr Nabeel Rajab said “No-one travelling to the Bahrain Grand Prix will be in danger.”
Despite reassuring words from both sides, doubts remained.
The protests started back in mid-February 2011 and hit the momentum in March that year when Shī'a groups formed the Coalition for a Republic, with the most radical ones in the Al-Haqq Movement. With more dynamic developments elsewhere in the Arab world and the crisis in Jordan, Bahrain temporarily slipped out from the radar of international media. However, the International Crisis Group has recently released an alert that “[b]eneath a façade of normalisation, Bahrain is sliding toward another dangerous eruption of violence.” (LINK)
Safe or not?
Could we actually witness any violent acts or serious breaches of security in the run-up and during the Bahrain Grand Prix? It is rather unlikely as bad publicity is in no-one’s interests at the moment. The Al Khalifa family wants to be seen as good rulers. Their business circles need the race to boost the economy and prove to be reliable trading partners. And the opposition wants to maintain their international support as a pro-democracy movement as the victims of the regime, rather than culprits.
The FIA has followed this or similar rationale in making their decision not to call off the Grand Prix. But it is always a gamble to not expect irrational actions in the Gulf.
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