Now, 14 months since the island was rocked by the worst unrest in its history, the future of Bahrain’s economy also remains unclear.
The international focus in recent months has been on the more brutal emerging civil war in Syria, often ignoring the slow-burn repression of this close US ally in the Gulf. For supporters of Bahrain’s monarchy, the legitimacy that came with the grand prix was a valuable win after last year’s race was cancelled amid widespread unrest inspired by the Arab spring.
But the protests also belied the organisers’ fiction that the race was a celebration of a “UniF1ied” nation – it took a state of effective martial law to allow Bahrain’s controversial grand prix to go ahead.
Across Bahrain this weekend, security forces ruthlessly quelled any attempt by protesters to bring their calls for democracy to a worldwide audience. There was widespread use of tear gas and reports of gunfire. One protester was found dead early Saturday in a case under investigation.
The majority Shia continue to lead protests against the minority Sunni-led government, though tight security has managed to keep protesters at bay in their villages since last year’s brutal Saudi-backed crackdown.
Since then, other economic reforms introduced by the crown prince have been rolled back by hardliners who are keen to integrate Bahrain more closely to its oil-rich neighbour as a means to marginalise Shia dissent.
The crown prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, told reporters that cancelling the race would have been a boost to “extremism”. On one level, he was reflecting Sunni concerns about increasingly violent tactics adopted by Shia youths, including Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs that have caused dozens of police injuries. But his words also highlighted fears that more unrest invites a return to the dark days of last spring, when the security forces operated with impunity.
The independent investigation into the events of last year slammed the security forces for excessive use of force and systematic torture. The government says it is reforming the security forces and judiciary, but the opposition and human rights groups say changes are slow and lack political will.
Turning reform rhetoric into reality is as important for the country’s global reputation and economic future.
Bankers and businessmen in the kingdom know that the unrest is not targeted at them. Tyre burning and protest marches may only be daily inconveniences, but the F1 experience shows that only a political solution will mean business as usual.
Yet despite the crown prince’s hopes, doubts remain over whether Bahrain can use the F1 as a springboard to introduce reforms that can be built upon to create to an outward-looking economy.
The grand prix, which debuted in Bahrain in 2004, formed the centre piece of the reform-minded crown prince’s attempts to diversify the economy into services and tourism, and become less dependent on support from its powerful neighbour, Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, the day after the race, progress stalled again.
The civil review of military sentences handed down to 14 political leaders, including human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja entering his 73rd day of a hunger strike, was on Monday adjourned for a week.
The road to reform is a long one.
