Up, up and away

Hah. According to the GDN, MPs have decided to postpone a corruption probe into Gulf Air until after summer because they want to "avoid shaking public confidence during the peak summer months."

Yeah right.

Since when did parliament worry about the public's confidence in Gulf Air? Does it not seem more likely that our overpaid elected confederation of muppets postponed their much-hyped corruption investigation because they want to go on holiday?

They want to sack the CEO immediately, but corruption... that can wait. And this is no ordinary corruption. No, this is the really bad kind of corruption. The deadly kind. The kind Bahraini democracy despises. Expatriate corruption.

According to our wise pillars of society, the corruption and mismanagment cases are 'affiliated to six or seven expatriate senior officials'. No Bahrainis, because as we all know, us Bahrainis are immune to corruption. Not like them expatriates. Even the phrasing is racist - 'expatriate senior officials'. Not senior officials who happen to be expatriates, but rather expatriates who are senior officials.

The more I think about it the more ridiculous it sounds. Does corruption in an established bureaucracy seriously damage public confidence? If it did, Bahrain's public would have the confidence of a mouldy turnip.

Perhaps they're worried that during the execution of their brilliant CSI-style investigation it will be discovered that Gulf Air's planes are rubbish. That might scare people. Or that the food is recycled from hotel Brunch leftovers. That might turn them off. But people boycotting an airline because some of the executives are corrupt? Really? This ridiculously remote scenario must be based entirely on assumptions. The assumption that people care enough to actually read about a corruption probe. The assumption that the press would actually, y'know, be informative. And the mind-bogglingly massive assumption that the fare-paying public is so morally indignant that they will specifically avoid Gulf Air to make an ethical point.

"Sorry kids.. We're not going on holiday this year"

"Why Daddy? Why?"

"Because of corruption my children"

"What's a corruption Daddy?"

"Corruption is a disease brought to Bahrain by the expatriates, and there's been an outbreak at Gulf Air. So until they get rid of every last bit of evil expat corruption, we're going nowhere."

Utter bullshit. They're going on holiday, plain and simple. It's been a difficult year for our simple MPs. Perhaps they deserve a break, especially after all the hard work that went into giving themselves a pay rise.

Three cheers for democracy. Ain't it awesome?