Manama , Bahrain ( CNN ) -- Bahrain 's king reshuffled his cabinet Saturday as protesters continued to call for reforms and a key opposition leader returned to the country . King Hamad replaced the ministers of housing , health , and cabinet affairs . He expanded the portfolio of the oil and gas minister to include electricity and water , and he appointed a new minister of labor . The king also announced that all government housing loans will be reduced by 25 % . Saturday 's announcement came after opposition leader Hassan Mushaimaa said he had returned to the islands nation , where he planned to join the tens of thousands of protesters camped out at the Pearl Roundabout in the heart of the capital . Mushaimaa , the leader of the Haq Movement , a major Shiite group , had planned to return earlier in the week to give a speech on the importance of national unity . His return was delayed by his detention in Lebanon , which he blamed on Bahrain 's rulers . Mushaimaa said after arriving in Bahrain that he was preparing a speech about the protesters ' demands for a new regime . Thousands of people have been demonstrating in Bahrain in recent days for political reforms and other concessions . Mushaimaa had earlier said he planned to join them . The anti-government rallies in Bahrain have occurred alongside similar protests in other regional states , but they have also unfolded amid major gestures by the kingdom . King Hamad on Tuesday touted a `` national dialogue '' and urged Bahrainis `` to engage in this new process '' and `` move away from polarization . '' Mushaimaa said Saturday he does n't believe the king 's offer for dialogue . `` They are always lying -- they are promising to do something and they do n't do it , '' he said about the monarchy . `` We talked about dialogue for a long time . Nobody listened , nobody heard us , '' he said . `` They are just listening now because of the pressure . If the pressure will finish , they will not listen again . '' Mushaimaa , who has been living abroad , had previously been detained by the government for campaigning for more democratic rights in the island monarchy . In September , Bahrain said it requested Interpol -- the world 's largest international police organization -- to help in arresting Mushaimaa , whom the government accused of a terrorist plot to destroy state buildings and of planning a coup . Monday , King Hamad ordered the release of a number of prisoners and closed cases against several Shiite leaders accused of plotting against the kingdom . That cleared the way for Mushaimaa to return to Bahrain from London , where he had been living in exile . Mushaimaa 's Haq Movement is more hard-line than the opposition Wefaq party , which includes 18 people in the 40-member parliament . Many members of his movement are opposed to the government monarchy .
The king replaced three cabinet ministers and made changes in two posts . It follows the return of opposition leader Hassan Mushaimaa . In a televised address to his nation, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said he was "determined that this transition will be peaceful and orderly so as not to create any instability."