All Party Group from UK Parliament writes an open letter in support of Bahrain GP – Formula 1
An All Party Group form the UK Parliament has written an open letter in Times in support of the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for later this year.
The letter is written amid civilian instability that took its peak in 2011 due to which last year’s Bahrain GP was cancelled after much deliberations.
The letter has been written in response to another open letter from the members of the UK’s House of Lords earlier which requested the Formula One management to drop this year’s Grand Prix held in the country. The response letter has been signed by Conor
Burns MP, and Thomas Docherty, MP, of the All Party Group on Bahrain basically stated these arguments,
That the event will bring together hundreds of Western visitors, journalists and media men, which will provide for a very good opportunity for the authorities to show the international community their sincerity towards reform.
The government of the country has maintained that there are no longer any significant issues in the country and it has been made sure that the people of the country are kept happy. The Human Rights Center in Bahrain though has maintained that the situation
is very much similar to what it was earlier and human rights violations are still occurring.
The Human Rights Center also called upon the teams and drivers of the sport to boycott the event. The Bahrain GP organisers in Bahrain have come out in favour of the event and said that the situation is nothing like it is being portrayed by some groups.
Formula 1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone is also been in favour of the event going ahead, and said that if management were to look into every issue in the world before visiting a country there would be no more Grand Prix in any part of the world except maybe Switzerland.
A small excerpt from the letter is as follows, “Those who want Bahrain to continue on the path of genuine reform will do the cause no service by cancelling the Grand Prix this year. Indeed, surely the presence of thousands of Western visitors and journalists
in the run-up to and during the event will act as an additional incentive to the authorities in Bahrain to show the international community its sincerity in the cause of reform and that their support for Bahrain is well placed?”
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