A Bahraini MP says she looks forward to a unified Gulf Army as a prelude to the Gulf Union. Sawsan Al Taqawi was speaking on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
“As we celebrate this glorious anniversary, we look forward to more accelerated paces towards moving from the stage of cooperation to the long due stage of unity,” MP Sawsan said. “The unity is a vision shared by the leaders and people of the Gulf and the GCC should achieve it in order to fulfil the aspirations and anticipations of the region,” she said.
Al Taqawi, elected in 2011 to the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament, said that the GCC had an impressive scoreboard, but needed to reinforce it.
“The GCC has achieved outstanding accomplishments for the Gulf people, but there is a lot more that should be achieved as well. There is a need to boost the progress towards the unity and achieve further progress and prosperity for the Arabian Gulf countries,” she said.
The lawmaker said that the Gulf countries needed to look carefully at their past resolution, particularly those related to business projects and their unity, in order to be able to confront together regional and foreign challenges.
“I look forward to the issue of Gulf union being taken up at the forthcoming advisory summit in Riyadh,” she said.
Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in December 2011 called upon the six member countries of the GCC to move from the phase of cooperation to the phase of unity within a single entity.
The call was endorsed by the member states and an ad-hoc committee was set up to look into it.
However, some GCC countries asked for more time to study the proposal. Enthusiasm was most intense in Bahrain and neighbouring Saudi Arabia and expectations last May were high that the two countries would announce a core union with two or three members that allowed the other countries to join at a later time.
However, Gulf officials denied the reports and said that the GCC countries were still studying the proposal together.
“The GCC countries have succeeded in reinforcing security and military cooperation and coordination as a priority for the Council,” Sawsan said. Meanwhile, GCC Secretary Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani said the anniversary “increases our pride for the great achievements, development, cohesion and solidarity”. Al Zayani also commended the efforts of Their Majesties and Highnesses, the late founders of the GCC, who laid its foundation stone based on “shrewd visions, strong will and determination that have impact on the GCC, Arab and Islamic Countries.”
