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2018 Bahraini general election

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2018 Bahraini general election
Bahrain
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All 40 seats in the Council of Representatives

General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2018 to elect the 40 members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was on Saturday, 24 November,[1] with a second round in 31 constituencies on Saturday, 1 December.[2] A municipal poll coincided with the parliamentary vote.

The elections were considered to be a sham,[3][4] as they followed a government crackdown on dissent that included prohibiting members of dissolved opposition groups from running.[5] Following the 2011 Bahraini protests, all 18 Al Wefaq members on the Council resigned,[6] and were barred from contesting the subsequent by-elections. Since 2011, authorities have imprisoned hundreds of dissidents, including Al Wefaq leader Sheikh Ali Salman, and stripped many of Bahraini citizenship.[7] Al Wefaq boycotted the 2014 Bahraini general election.

The two main opposition groups, the Shiite Al-Wefaq and secular Waad, were barred from fielding candidates in 2018, prompting renewed calls for a boycott. A court banned Al Wefaq in 2016 for "harbouring terrorism", inciting violence and encouraging demonstrations which threatened to spark sectarian strife.[7] On 17 July 2016, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television and international print media reported that Bahrain's highest court dissolved Al Wefaq and liquidated the group's funds.[8]

Electoral system

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The 40 members of the Council of Representatives were elected from single-member constituencies using a two-round system; if no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round was held.[9]

Constituencies

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Each governorate is divided into a number of constituencies for the election for the Council of Representatives. Each constituency is listed as area 1, area 2 etc. Each constituency elects one member. Only Bahraini nationals are entitled to stand for and to vote at elections.

Governorate Population
(2010)
Non-nationals
(2010)
Nationals
(2010)
Divisions
(2018)
Capital Governorate 329,510 261,921 67,589 10
Muharraq Governorate 189,114 86,870 102,244 8
Northern Governorate 276,949 82,887 194,062 12
Southern Governorate 101,456 68,525 32,931 10
Other 11,237 11,237
Total 1,234,571 666,172 568,399 40
Source: CIO[10]

Campaign

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Candidates had to apply between 17 and 21 October 2018,[1] with 293 registering to contest the 40 seats.[11]

Results

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Nine of the 40 constituencies were decided in the first round, with the other 31 going to a runoff.[12] According to the government, voter turnout in the first round was 67%, an increase from 53% in the 2014 elections. However, the opposition claimed that the real voter turnout did not exceed 28%-30%.[13][14][15]

List of elected members

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Constituency Elected member
Capital First Abel Abdulrahman Mohammed Ahmed Alasoomi
Capital Second Sawsan Mohamed Abdulrahim Kamal
Capital Third Mamdooh Abbas Ahmad Alsaleh
Capital Fourth Ammar Ahmed Ghuloom Albannai
Capital Fifth Ahmed Sabah Salman Alsalloom
Capital Sixth Masooma Hasan Abdulhusain Abdulrahim
Capital Seventh Zainab Abdulameer Khalil Ebrahim
Capital Eighth Fadhel Abbas Ali Isa Alsawad
Capital Ninth Ammar Husain Ebrahim Abbas
Capital Tenth Ali Mohamed Isa Abdulla Ishaqi
Muharraq First Hamad Ahmed Mohamed Saleh Alkooheji
Muharraq Second Ebrahim Khalid Ebrahim Alnefaei
Muharraq Third Mohamed Isa Ahmed Abdulla Ali
Muharraq Fourth Ghazi Abdulaziz Yusuf Jaafar Almurbati
Muharraq Fifth Khaled Saleh Ahmed Buanaq
Muharraq Sixth Hisham Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed Alasheeri
Muharraq Seventh Ammar Sami Ali Hasan Qambar
Muharraq Eighth Yusuf Ahmed Hasan Hohamed Althawadi
Northern First Kaltham Abdulkareem Jassim
Northern Second Fatema Abbas Qasim Mohamed
Northern Third Abdulla Ebrahim Mubarak Khalil Aldoseri
Northern Fourth Ghazi Faisal Hasan Husain al Rahma
Northern Fifth Sayed Falah Hashem Falah Abdulla
Northern Sixth Abdulnabi Salman Ahmed Naser
Northern Seventh Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed Aldamestani
Northern Eighth Abdulla Khalifa Juma Abdulkarim Althawadi
Northern Ninth Yusuf Zainalabddin Mohamed Zainal
Northern Tenth Basem Salman Mohamed Salman Erhama Almalki
Northern Eleventh Mohamed Khalifa Abdulla Husain Buhamood
Northern Twelfth Mahmood Maki Salman Albahrani
Southern First Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Saad Alaamer
Southern Second Isa Ali Jamal Alquadhi
Southern Third Ahmed Yusuf Abdulqader Mohamed Alansari
Southern Fourth Ali Ahmed Ali Zayed
Southern Fifth Fawzia Zainal
Southern Sixth Abdulrazaq Abdulla Ali Hattab
Southern Seventh Ali Majed Ali Hasan Almajed Alnoaimi
Southern Eighth Mohamed Ebrahim Ali Muhana Alsisi Albuainain
Southern Ninth Bader Saood Jabur Abdulla Aldoseri
Southern Tenth Isa Yusuf Abdulla Ahmed Aldoseri
Source: Elections 2018 Archived 2018-12-23 at the Wayback Machine, Elections 2018 Archived 2018-12-03 at the Wayback Machine

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bahrain to hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 24 - state news agency". Reuters. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  2. ^ Bahrain announces election results as palace prepares for visit from Saudi crown prince The National, 25 November 2018
  3. ^ Al-Wadaei, Sayed Ahmed; Abdulla, Husain (22 November 2018). "After Khashoggi's murder, it's time for the world to stop ignoring Bahrain's abuses". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ What "Elections" in Bahrain Can Teach Us About Politics in the Middle East UN Dispatch, 7 December 2018
  5. ^ "Bahrain Moves to Ban Opposition Ahead of 2018 Elections". Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  6. ^ Bahraini woman dies 'during protest' Al Jazeera, 16 July 2011
  7. ^ a b Experts cast doubt on upcoming Bahrain elections
  8. ^ AP (17 July 2016). "Bahrain court orders Shia opposition group to be dissolved". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  9. ^ Electoral system IPU
  10. ^ "Population by Governorate" (PDF). Census 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-25. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  11. ^ Bahrain poll results expected today Gulf News, 25 November 2018
  12. ^ Run-off for 31 seats after first round of Bahrain's elections GDN Online, 26 November 2018
  13. ^ "Record number of Bahraini women elected to parliament". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Al-Wefaq Announces Failure of Elections: 30% Turnout at Most, Int'l Community Should Respect Bahraini People's Will". Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Bahrain opposition: Voter turnout did not exceed 30%". 26 November 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.