All you need to know about Bahrain polls
A record number of women, 41, are contesting, up from 22 in 2014
Manama: Bahraini men and women on Saturday go to the polls to elect their lawmakers and municipal councillors for the new term (2018-2022).
How frequent are parliamentary and municipal elections in Bahrain?
Bahrain holds elections every four years.
This is the fifth time since the promulgation of the new constitution in 2002 that elections are being held.
How many candidates are vying for parliamentary seats?
293 candidates are contesting 40 parliamentary seats. Up from 266 in 2014.
How many women are running?
A record number of women are contesting.(41 up from 22 in 2014 and seven in 2010)
No women ran in 2002 and 2010 but 2011 by-elections produced three women lawmakers.
In the 2014 elections, three women won.
When and where do Bahrainis vote?
Bahrainis can cast their vote from 8am to 8pm for their respective electoral district (there are 40).
There are 54 polling stations in total including 14 general stations where voters can cast their ballots regardless of their constituency.
What does it take to win?
A candidate needs at least 50 per cent of votes to win. If no candidate secures this percentage then a second round of polls will be held in those constituences on December 1 where only the top two candidates contest.
Can Bahrainis overseas vote?
Yes. Bahrainis can cast their ballots in any of the 29 diplomatic missions designated as polling stations.
Bahrainis abroad voted on November 20 in the first round and will vote on November 27 if there is no clear winner in their constituency in Bahrain.
Will their be significant change to the Council of Representatives?
Yes. At least 16 lawmakers are not seeking re-election leaving room for fresh faces in the parliament.
Who can run in the parliamentary elections?
A candidate must be a Bahraini national who must be registered in his or her constituency, be at least 30 years old and able to read and write Arabic.
Who is monitoring the elections?
The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) and four NOGOs - Bahrain Transparency Association (BTA), Bahraini Jurists Society (BJS), Bahrain Public Relations Association (BPRA), and Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS), are fielding 231 observers to monitor the polls.
Independents set to gain in Bahrain polls
Need for political consensus in political groups impedes ability to operate effectively
Manama: Bahraini voters are heading to polling stations on Saturday to elect the 40 lawmakers who will make up the new Council of Representatives, the lower chamber in the kingdom’s bicameral parliament.
Independent candidates are more likely, thanks to their numbers and their aggressive campaigns, to continue their domination of the Council and to leave political groups to, lick their wounds, once again.
Speaking to Gulf News, former MP Ali Matar, explains why this is the trend.
“The need for consensus within political groups impedes their ability to operate effectively. Also other political groups may obstruct or stall their work for political reasons.”
Independents do not need to operate within the framework set by societies for its members and this affords them an enviable ease and speed of action, he added.
In the elections on Saturday, political heavyweights such as Al Asalah, with four candidates, and Al Menbar, with two, will again be there, but this time, they will be up against candidates fielded by the liberal Progressive Tribune Society, the National Unity Assembly, Al Meethaq, Islamic Al Saf and the Islamic Rabta.
Because no political alliances have formed between the main political groups, it is much harder for these groups to compete with the wave of young and passionate independents emerging.
Bahrain first held parliamentary polls in 2002 after King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa launched sweeping constitutional reforms.
The first elections were held in 2002 after In the 2002 elections, political societies won 19 seats, independent candidates had 18, and liberals three.
In the 2006 elections, saw a gradual rise of Sunni and Shiite Islamist societies.
Anti-government protests which erupted in 2011 caused the largest political bloc, Al Wefaq, to pull out from elections, triggering by-elections.
In 2016 Al Wefaq was ordered by the government to dissolve accusing it of inciting violence and encouraging demonstrations against the government and seeking to foment sectarian strife in the country.
Al Wefaq was largely made up of Shiite Islamists which the government accuses of collaborating with “foreign entities” in a allusion to Iran.
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