Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa () (24 November 1935 – 11 November 2020) 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. 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 Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (born 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 1999. He is a member of the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty. Early life and education Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. ...

and grand-uncle of the Crown Prince Salman, since he was the younger brother of the previous Emir

Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (; 3 June 1933 – 6 March 1999) was a Bahraini royal who served as the first Emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999 (after having previously ruled as Hakim of Bahrain until 16 August 1971). Bo ...

Early life and education

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. 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). Prince Khalifa was appointed as prime minister by his brother Emir

, in 1971. Therefore, he was assigned the control of government and economy, while his brother, the Emir, was involved in diplomatic and ceremonial affairs. 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 King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

was somewhere in the middle of the two.

Finances

According to the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...

, leaked in 2021 after his death, Prince Khalifa owned a

shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

created in 1996 that held assets worth $60 million.

Marriage and children

Prince Khalifa married his cousin Hessa bint Ali Al Khalifa, the fourth daughter of Ali bin Hamad Al Khalifa in

Muharraq Muharraq () is Bahrain's third most populous city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2020 was 263,373. Muharraq served as the country’s capital until 1932. It rose to prominenc ...

. 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 Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

on 11 November 2020, 13 days before his 85th birthday. Serving 50 years and 11 months in office, he was the longest serving prime minister in the world at the time of his death. On 12 November, his body was flown back to Bahrain, where he was buried the following day at Hunainiyah Cemetery in Riffa. Bahraini authorities ordered a seven-day national mourning period with flags half-masted and government institutions closed for three days. Bangladesh observed a day of state mourning on 17 November with flags half-masted.

Honours

;Foreign honours * Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (SMN, 30 January 2001) * Philippines:

Order of Sikatuna The Order of Sikatuna () is the national order of diplomatic merit of the Republic of the Philippines. It is conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippines, upon diplomats, ...

(7 November 2001) * Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

(4 December 1981)

References

External links

Khalifa's biography
nbsp;– official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrainprimeminister.net
nbsp;– website about Khalifa and his family) {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalifa, Khalifa Al 1935 births 2020 deaths Recipients of King Hamad Order of the Renaissance Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Grand Collars of the Order of Lakandula Grand Officers of the National Order of the Cedar Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Khalifa Salman Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic People of the Bahraini uprising of 2011 Prime ministers of Bahrain People named in the Pandora Papers Sons of monarchs