CABINET AFFAIRS MINISTER ON DEMOCRATIC GROWING

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000144 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI BERNS COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/ONE LOUSTAUNAU AND HOFFMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2015 TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV BA SUBJECT: CABINET AFFAIRS MINISTER ON DEMOCRATIC GROWING PAINS Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On January 31, 2005 the Ambassador paid a call on Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Abdulhussain Mirza, who was Minister of State responsible for the Tendering Board in the previous cabinet. Mirza expressed concern over Bahrain's legislative system. He indicated the GOB must find a balance between free democratic processes and control over religious zealots who propose laws counter to executive goals. He stated the GOB needs to have a good system of checks and balances in place, and the executive branch must find a way to convey its concerns to the parliament. ¶2. (C) Mirza noted he will remain head of the government tendering board. In response to the Ambassador's inquiry about Bahrain's two-envelope procurement system, Mirza stated that legally the GOB does not have to analyze the technical and financial portions separately. He said that in general they will, but there will be times when it makes more sense to consider the technical and financial merits jointly. As an example, he cited a major project with lengthy tendering documents that would take an enormous amount of time to review. In such a case, eliminating bids that are clearly unrealistic would be the efficient way to proceed. (NOTE: A U.S. company recently complained that the GOB was not respecting the two-envelope tendering process. END NOTE). MONROE