The Depraved Show

One of the concerns with the results of Bahrain's Parliamentary elections was that the Shi'ite and Sunni Islamists would unite around social issues. This appears to be happening:

"Bahrain's information minister yesterday received the backing of two newspapers in the stand-off with a parliamentarian investigation committee over the alleged explicit sexual content of a cultural show.

"Islamists from Al Wefaq, Al Asala and Al Menbar, who make up 75 per cent of Bahrain's Council of Representatives, last week agreed to form an ad-hoc committee to quiz Information Minister Dr Mohammad Abdul Gaffar and ministry officials over the 'indecent character' of a musical show, Qais and the Possessed, staged on March 1 as part of the annual Spring of Culture festival. The deputies' decision sharply split the country between conservatives who said that the show was 'an unacceptable onslaught on Bahrain's identity and values' and liberals who charged the Islamists with 'seeking to impose their restricted views on the population'."

This is, of course, partly just grandstanding by politicians who can't figure out how to do anything about advancing political reforms or solving the country's other problems. As a result, many may eventually lose faith in the system and attempt to topple it from outside.