Manama: A record number of 322 candidates will be on the ballot in Bahrain’s parliamentary race next month, more than double the figure of the 2010 elections.
“We have 493 people who submitted applications to run in the parliamentary and municipal elections in November,” Abdullah Al Buainain, the executive director of the elections, said. “The four competent committees received 322 applications to run in the parliamentary elections and 171 in the municipal elections. The registration was open for five days and ended on Sunday evening as scheduled. However, the offices were closed one hour and a half late because they had to deal with the rush of candidates completing the registration process,” he said.
The final lists of the candidates will be announced to the public on November 5 after the candidacies are carefully checked to ensure they met the standards and criteria as stated by the election regulations.
The elections are scheduled for November 22 and the run-off in constituencies where no candidate received more than 50 per cent of the votes will be held one week later.
Around 350,000 Bahraini men and women are eligible to cast their ballots to choose the lawmakers for the 2014-2019 parliament term.
Parliamentary and municipal elections were held in 2002, 2006 and 2010 following the promulgation of a new constitution that allowed women to vote and run in national polls.
Figures indicate that 191 candidates in 2002 submitted applications for the 40 seats in the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament. The elections were then boycotted by some opposition societies asking for more constitutional reforms.
However, the figures went up to 221 candidates in 2006, following the overall satisfaction with the first parliament experience and the decision by the opposition societies to reverse their boycott and participate in the elections. Al Wefaq, the dominant society in the opposition, won 17 seats.
In 2010, the number of candidates went down to 149 and Al Wefaq carried the 18 constituencies where it fielded candidates, all men.
By-elections were held the following year after Al Wefaq pulled out its lawmakers amid the dramatic events that hit Bahrain in February and March.
In the absence of Al Wefaq, three women were able to win and to join MP Lateefa Al Gaood who made history in 2006 when she became the first woman in the Gulf to be elected to parliament.
The 40 members of the Shura Council, the upper chamber of the parliament, will be appointed by King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, as stipulated by the constitution.
The outgoing council had 11 women.
