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Islamists win almost half Bahraini Parliament seats
Manama, Nov 01: Candidates from Sunni and Shiite Islamist parties have secured 19 of the 40 seats in Bahrain`s Legislative Assembly, following the first parliamentary elections in the small Gulf state since 1973, according to official results released early today.
Manama, Nov 01: Candidates from Sunni and Shiite Islamist parties have secured 19 of the 40 seats in Bahrain's Legislative Assembly, following the first parliamentary
elections in the small Gulf state since 1973, according to
official results released early today.
Eighteen independent candidates - 11 Sunni and seven Shiite - also won seats along with three liberals - two Sunni and one Shiite, according to the final results following two rounds of voting which ended yesterday. Two women candidates who made it to the second round run-off vote were both defeated. A further six women candidates had been eliminated in the first round vote. They had been bidding to become the first woman elected to parliament in any of the six conservative Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
Four opposition groups, including the main political association of Bahrain's Shiite Muslim majority, boycotted the parliamentary elections. They were protesting an amendment to the 1973 constitution stipulating that legislative power be split equally between the elected chamber and a consultative council to be appointed by Bahrain's King Hamad. Sunnis make up 40 per cent of the Sunni-ruled country's 378,000 natives, and Shiites the rest, according to unofficial estimates. Bahrain's total population stands at around 650,000.
Bureau Report
Eighteen independent candidates - 11 Sunni and seven Shiite - also won seats along with three liberals - two Sunni and one Shiite, according to the final results following two rounds of voting which ended yesterday. Two women candidates who made it to the second round run-off vote were both defeated. A further six women candidates had been eliminated in the first round vote. They had been bidding to become the first woman elected to parliament in any of the six conservative Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
Four opposition groups, including the main political association of Bahrain's Shiite Muslim majority, boycotted the parliamentary elections. They were protesting an amendment to the 1973 constitution stipulating that legislative power be split equally between the elected chamber and a consultative council to be appointed by Bahrain's King Hamad. Sunnis make up 40 per cent of the Sunni-ruled country's 378,000 natives, and Shiites the rest, according to unofficial estimates. Bahrain's total population stands at around 650,000.
Bureau Report