No sooner had the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council endorsed the appointment of Mohamed Ibraheem Al-Motawa as Secretary General of the Council, starting in March 2011, than the information was spreading across news wires and online forums like wildfire. This wide interest can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, 63 year old Al-Motawa is the first Bahraini to assume this position and secondly, Qatar and Oman had reservations concerning his appointment. These reservations prevented him from winning the consensus of the Council's six nations. Undoubtedly, Al-Motawa will resume his duties, undertaking to make reconciliations between the GCC countries after the disagreement that arose from his election by only four GCC nations, namely: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The appointment of Al-Motawa will be associated with the 2011 Summit that will be held in Bahrain after the UAE's next Summit, according to the alphabetical order of the six nations. Al-Motawa is the first Secretary General of the Council who assumed the ministry of information (for seven years). He has been a cultural affairs adviser to the Bahraini premier since 2005. This of course will lend a broader media dimension to the General Secretariat that started to fulfill great expectations and ambitions of the Gulf region. The GCC General Secretariat managed to endorse regional projects including power linkage project and agreement on mechanisms required to reinvigorate the unified currency project.
Al-Motawa was born in September 1947 and graduated from Alexandria University (Egypt). He obtained a bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology. Al-Motawa has a unique personality. He is modest and quiet. The people who knew him all agree that he is very accurate in his work and pays attention to every small detail. Interestingly, Al-Motawa will be the first Secretary General of the GCC who will undertake his duties in a suit, not the traditional formal uniform worn by the four former GCC general secretaries.
In 1972, Al-Motawa started his career life in Bahrain by assuming responsibility for the youthful and national activities in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. He was then appointed as Director of the Cabinet Affairs in 1974. Three years later, he was nominated as the General Director of the Premier's Office and then the State Minister of the Cabinet Affairs in 1993. In 1995, he was appointed as the State Minister of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Information. In 2001, he became the Minister of the Premier's Affairs. The year after, he took his last official ministerial work as the Minister of the Cabinet Affairs until 2006. He then became a special advisor to Monarch of Bahrain. Since, 2005, he has been appointed as the Cultural Affairs Advisor of the Premier. Due to his position, he obtained the membership of the ministerial committee of the Affairs of the Shura Council and the Nuwab Assembly of Bahrain. He also had memberships in ministerial Bahraini committees competent with legal affairs, financial and economic affairs, social services and family. Furthermore, he was also member in the Higher Council for Youth and Sport and the Supreme Council for Oil.
Last June, Kingdom of Bahrain submitted a nomination application to GCC to put up Mohammed Al-Motawa as a candidate for the position of Secretary General of GCC. Bahraini Monarch Hamad Ben Issa sent letters to the leaders of the GCC six nations in order to reinforce diplomatic support and provide necessary backing to Bahrain's candidate. All countries expressed their approval except Qatar and Oman. Qatar asked Bahrain to renounce its right in favor of the Qatari candidate. Amidst the arrangements of the Kuwait Summit, it became clear that there was a countermovement specifically against Mohammed Al-Motawa. When the GCC leaders discussed this point on their agenda, Qatar and Oman objected to the appointment of Al-Motawa. Voting has settled this matter.
Many people did not perceive that the Qatari-Bahraini dispute reflected on the summit's agenda, although the Secretary General of the Qatari Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah noted in his press conference at the end of the summit that his successor will be the candidate of the Kingdom of Bahrain. However, he did not mention Muhamed Al-Mutawa by name. As interpreted, this declaration was in harmony with the Qatari stance that welcomes the Bahraini candidate, and not necessarily Mohammed Al-Mutawa. Meanwhile, Bahrain announced through its media that its candidate, Mohammed Al-Mutawa, will be the next Secretary-General.
The Qatari attitude towards Al-Mutawa is attributed to the attack launched on Doha by Bahraini media institutions when Al-Mutawa was then Minister of Information. This period coincided with the Qatari dispute with Bahrain on the latter's rights to Hewar Islands, located between the two countries. In a later period, the International Court of Justice awarded the islands to Bahrain.
On the other side, Al-Mutawa is seen as a member of a generation who witnessed Arab setbacks, and then he experienced the rise of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Moreover, when he assumes his new post he will end the state of dispute, and open a new chapter among member states, being one of the key players during the period of the Qatari-Bahraini dispute. This will make him realize to what extent any dispute that would arise among member states of the Council will be serious. In addition, during his term as Secretary-General, all members of the GCC are expected to join the Gulf Monetary Union. He is also expected to witness the last phase of the electric linkage project, which has come into force recently.
Under the charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the post of Secretary-General is alternating between member states, provided the occupant is a citizen of GCC countries. The term in office extends for three years, and it is renewable for one time only. An exception can be made only with the consent of the Supreme Council, which consists of leaders of the six countries. The Secretary-General nominates his aides, and appoints members of the secretariat from citizens of member states. He is not entitled to make exceptions without obtaining the approval of the Ministerial Council which is composed of foreign ministers of member states.
