Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

{{short description|Bahraini royal, prime minister from 1970 to 2020}}

{{Infobox royalty

| image = Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa (cropped).jpg

| caption = Al Khalifa in 2010

| succession = 1st Prime Minister of Bahrain

{{Infobox officeholder/office

| color = #e4dcf6

| termstart = 10 January 1970

| termend = 11 November 2020

| monarch = Isa bin Salman
Hamad bin Isa

| deputy = {{List collapsed|title=List|Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (2013–2020 as First Deputy)
Abdullah bin Khalid Al Khalifa (2002–2005)
Muhammad ibn Mubarak ibn Hamad Al Khalifah (2002–2020)
Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (2005–2020)
Jawad Al-Arrayedh (2006–2020)
Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa (2010–2020)}}

| predecessor = Position established

| successor = Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa

}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|11|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Jasra, Bahrain

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|11|11|1935|11|20|df=y}}

| death_place = Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.

| burial_date = 13 November 2020

| burial_place = Riffa, Bahrain

| spouse = Hessa bint Ali Al Khalifa

| father = Salman bin Hamad, Emir of Bahrain

| mother = Mouza bint Hamad Al Khalifa

| issue = 4

| house = Khalifa

}}

Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa ({{langx|ar| خليفة بن سلمان آل خليفة}}) (24 November 1935 – 11 November 2020){{Cite web|url=https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=138&language=en-US|title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=25 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109160757/https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=138&language=en-US|archive-date=9 November 2019|url-status=live}} was a Bahraini royal and politician who served as the prime minister of Bahrain from 10 January 1970 until his death in 2020. He took office over a year before Bahrain's independence on 15 August 1971.[CIA World Factbook, 1999] At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving prime minister in the world. Under the 2002 Constitution he lost some of his powers, with the King now having the authority to appoint and (along with the Bahraini parliament) dismiss ministers.

Prince Khalifa was also the paternal uncle of the reigning King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and grand-uncle of the Crown Prince Salman, since he was the younger brother of the previous Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

Early life and education

File:Khalifa Bin Sulman Alkhalifa , sheik van Bharein op Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 914-4931.jpg

Prince Khalifa was born on 24 November 1935, the second son of Salman ibn Hamad Al Khalifa, Hakim of Bahrain, and his wife Mouza bint Hamad Al Khalifa.{{cite web|work=Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs|title=H.R.H. the Prime Minister|url=http://www.mofa.gov.bh/AboutBahrain/Goverment/HHthePrimeMinister/tabid/138/language/en-US/Default.aspx|access-date=21 March 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322014829/http://www.mofa.gov.bh/AboutBahrain/Goverment/HHthePrimeMinister/tabid/138/language/en-US/Default.aspx|archive-date=22 March 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news |author=Hudhaifa Ebrahim |date=11 November 2020 |title=Bahraini PM Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Dead at 84 |url=https://themedialine.org/by-region/bahraini-pm-khalifa-bin-salman-al-khalifa-dead-at-84/ |access-date=13 November 2020 |work=The Media Line}} He was educated at Manama High School and the Rifa’a Palace School in Bahrain.

Career

Prince Khalifa was a member of the education council from 1956 to 1958 and chair between 1958 and 1961. Next he became the director of the finance department (1961–1966), president of the electricity board (1961), chair of the Manama municipal council (1962–1967), head of the Bahrain monetary council (1964), chair of the joint committee for economic and financial studies, committee member for the register of commerce, then chairman of the administrative affairs council (1967–1969), became board member of the Bahrain monetary agency and then chairperson of the State Council (1972–1974), head of the State Council (1972), and head of the Supreme Defence Council (1977).

File:The visiting Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain Mr. Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa being received by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ata Ceremonial Reception in New Delhi on January 13, 2004.jpg in New Delhi, 2004]]

Prince Khalifa was appointed as prime minister by his brother Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, in 1971. Therefore, he was assigned the control of government and economy, while his brother, the Emir, was involved in diplomatic and ceremonial affairs.{{cite journal|author=Steven Wright|title=Fixing the Kingdom: Political Evolution and Socio-Economic Challenges in Bahrain|journal=CIRS|year=2008 |url=http://qspace.qu.edu.qa/bitstream/handle/10576/10759/No_3_Fixing_the_Kingdom.pdf?sequence=1|access-date=10 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703030859/http://qspace.qu.edu.qa/bitstream/handle/10576/10759/No_3_Fixing_the_Kingdom.pdf?sequence=1|archive-date=3 July 2012|url-status=live}} Prince Khalifa received a World Peace Culture Award on 6 August 2017.

Prince Khalifa is the founder of the Housing Ministry, and he reformed the Central Bank of Bahrain. During his premiership he was the head of the Oil and Economic Policy Council.

=Views=

In 2011, reporter Bill Law stated that Prince Khalifa was a hardliner, whereas Crown Prince Salman, his grandnephew who is also deputy prime minister, was a reformer and the King was somewhere in the middle of the two.{{cite news|author=Bill Law|title=Splits inside Bahrain's ruling al-Khalifah family|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12760883|access-date=14 April 2013|work=BBC|date=16 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611011237/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12760883|archive-date=11 June 2012|url-status=live}}

= Finances =

According to the Pandora Papers, leaked in 2021 after his death, Prince Khalifa owned a shell company created in 1996 that held assets worth $60 million.{{Cite web |title=Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa |url=https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/power-players/sheikh-khalifa-bin-salman-al-khalifa |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database |publisher=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists}}{{Cite web |date=2021-10-04 |title=Pandora Papers: Tony and Cherie Blair avoided tax using Bahraini company |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pandora-papers-blair-avoided-tax-bahrain-company |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}

Marriage and children

Prince Khalifa married his cousin Hessa bint Ali Al Khalifa,{{Cite news|last=Gambrell|first=Jon|title=Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Bahrain prime minister with checkered record, dies at 84|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/khalifa-bin-salman-al-khalifa-bahrain-prime-minister-with-checkered-record-dies-at-84/2020/11/11/82aec612-2426-11eb-a688-5298ad5d580a_story.html|access-date=2020-11-12|issn=0190-8286}} the fourth daughter of Ali bin Hamad Al Khalifa{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} in Muharraq. They had three sons and one daughter:

Mohammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (died 1974).
Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa – Former deputy prime minister. He married Zayn bint Khalid Al Khalifa with whom he has three sons and one daughter:
Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa
Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa
Minwa bint Ali Al Khalifa
Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa
Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Lulwa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa – honorary president of the Al Noor beneficence society. She married Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (born 1952), artist and patron of the arts. They have four sons and three daughters.
Noor bint Rashid Al Khalifa
Khalifa bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Hassa bint Rashid Al Khalifa
Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Aysha bint Rashid Al Khalifa

Death

Prince Khalifa experienced various health problems. In September 2019, he went to Germany for treatment, and returned to Bahrain in March 2020. He headed the cabinet for the last time in July 2020 and went to the United States for treatment the following month. He died at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota on 11 November 2020, 13 days before his 85th birthday.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/11/middleeast/bahrain-prime-minister-dies-intl/index.html|title=Bahrain's longest serving prime minister, Prince Khalifa Al Khalifa, dies at 84|work=CNN|date=November 11, 2020}} Serving 50 years and 11 months in office, he was the longest serving prime minister in the world at the time of his death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/11/bahrain-pm-has-died-royal-palace-says|title=Bahrain's long-serving PM Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa dies|work=Al Jazeera}}{{cite news |title=Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa, leader of Bahrain's government, dies at 84 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/middleeast/khalifa-bin-salman-al-khalifa-bahrain-dead.html |access-date=16 January 2022 |work=New York Times |date=11 November 2020}}

On 12 November, his body was flown back to Bahrain, where he was buried the following day at Hunainiyah Cemetery in Riffa.{{cite news |title=Bahrain buries world's longest serving prime minister |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bahrain-politics-int/bahrain-buries-worlds-longest-serving-prime-minister-idUSKBN27T0U4 |access-date=16 January 2022 |work=Reuters |date=13 November 2020}} [https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uae/bahrain-buries-worlds-longest-serving-prime-minister-khalifa-bin-salman-al-khalifa/articleshow/79206954.cms Alternative URL]{{cite news |title=Bahrain Roundup 2020: Death of Bahraini Prime Minister in the US |url=http://bahrainmirror.com/en/news/58970.html |access-date=16 January 2022 |work=Bahrain Mirror |date=5 January 2021}} Bahraini authorities ordered a seven-day national mourning period with flags half-masted and government institutions closed for three days.{{cite web |title=Bahrain: Authorities declare week-long mourning period following death of Prime Minister November 11 |url=https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2020/11/bahrain-authorities-declare-week-long-mourning-period-following-death-of-prime-minister-november-11}} Bangladesh observed a day of state mourning on 17 November with flags half-masted.{{cite web |title=Bangladesh declares day-long state mourning over Bahrain PM's death | Bangladesh Live News |url=https://www.bangladeshlivenews.com/en/bangladesh/details/bangladesh-declares-day-long-state-mourning-over-bahrain-pm-s-death}}{{cite web |date=13 January 2024 |title=Bangladesh declares state mourning over Bahrain PM's death |url=https://thebengalspeak.com/english/bangladesh-declares-state-mourning-over-bahrain-pms-death}}

Honours

;Foreign honours

Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (SMN, 30 January 2001){{Cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/v8/images/stories/2001.pdf|title=Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 2001.}}
Philippines: Order of Sikatuna (7 November 2001){{Cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/|title=The Order of Sikatuna | GOVPH|access-date=21 February 2021|archive-date=25 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825092055/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/|url-status=dead}}
Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (4 December 1981){{Cite web |url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1982/01/04/pdfs/A00102-00102.pdf |title=Boletín Oficial del Estado |access-date=2015-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003084714/http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1982/01/04/pdfs/A00102-00102.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-03 |url-status=live }}

References

External links

[http://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=138&language=en-US Khalifa's biography] – official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain
[https://web.archive.org/web/20101229132511/http://bahrainprimeminister.net/ Bahrainprimeminister.net] – website about Khalifa and his family)