This House has no confidence in Bahrain's promise to reform
Monday December 12 2011
MOTION PASSED
by 78% to 22%
Opinion poll
A majority of Arabs claim to have confidence in Bahrain's government to carry out promised reforms in the wake of protests in the Gulf Kingdom in 2011, according to the latest Doha Debates opinion poll.
The findings are in sharp contrast to the views of the audience at the December Doha Debate where 78 percent of the audience gave the Bahraini government a vote of no confidence on its promise to reform.
Not surprisingly, the opinion poll which surveyed 1,008 people in the GCC, North Africa and the Levant, found most support for the government in neighbouring Gulf states.
Sixty percent of those polled in the GCC claim they were against the public protests in Bahrain and 41 percent from the region believe the Bahraini government's crackdown of the public demonstrations was ‘the right thing to do'.
Those in North Africa and the Levant were more likely to believe the government crackdown was needed but was done too violently (33% and 34% respectively) or no crackdown was needed (30% and 28% respectively).
Although many ‘trusted' the government's intentions, a considerable proportion of respondents would still like to see free and democratic elections take place in Bahrain. It's a view shared by many of those who had confidence in the Government's promises.
Half of those interviewed across the region believed that, if it were to happen, the collapse of Bahrain's government could lead to similar collapses in other Gulf countries. The majority in North Africa and the Levant believed Qatar and KSA assisted Bahrain out of ‘fear' that if allowed to spread the uprising would put pressure on them to reform. The largest number of those in the GCC claim Qatar and Saudi Arabia were simply ‘friendly governments' helping an ally.
Polling dates: 8 - 14 January 2012
Download the polling data [PDF]
Watch online
