ABSTRACT
The experiments were terminated when the regime's opponents began to criticize fundamental aspects of its internal security policies. Prominent members of Bahrain's commercial elite occupy influential posts within the country's most important political institutions, enabling them to maintain a position as vital but junior partners of the senior shaikhs of the Al Khalifah. Bahrain's state administration is in a position to play an increasing role in the political and economic life of the country. The regime has resorted to armed force in suppressing all three sorts of challenges to its predominance, and none of labor movements has proved successful in resisting countermeasures. The People's Bloc, advocated traditional labor demands for unionization, worker participation in economic policymaking, and higher wages. The ruler responded by formally dissolving the assembly, while reinstating the cabinet and granting it "full legislative powers". With this move, Bahrain's short–lived experiment in parliamentary government came to an end.
