On Friday, the pro-democracy demonstrators denounced the reforms announced by Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa a day earlier, saying the measures do not represent the people and opposition living in the Persian Gulf country.
On the same day, the leader of Bahrain's biggest opposition movement, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, said that the new proposal "ignores the legitimate demands of the people," and the “official position remains rigid.”
"The royal family retains all powers -- executive, legislative and judicial, in addition to security, information and wealth," Sheikh Ali Salman stated, adding, "The solution would be to give up this monopoly of all power and respect the will of the people."
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed.