Bahrain Shiite opposition wins 18 of 40 seats

 

Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group, the Islamic National Accord Association, won 18 of parliament's 40 seats in a weekend poll, the electoral commission said on Sunday.

The 18 candidates of INAA, which won 17 parliamentary seats at the last election in 2006, were elected in the first round of the legislative poll held on Saturday, electoral commission chairman Abdullah al-Buainain told AFP.
 

Bahrain polls hailed as historic event

Bahrain voted for a new parliament on Saturday in what was considered to be a smooth election. 

Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, the country's prime minister, hailed the voting as a historic landmark and an indication of Bahrain's forward-looking development, reported 'Gulf News'.

The Gulf kingdom voted to elect 35 more lawmakers and 39 municipal councilors.

"Awareness about democracy is high among our people and I hail the elections as an opportunity to highlight the cohesion between Bahrainis," Prince Khalifa said.

"Divergences in opinions and views are not an issue and are in fact the feature of democracy," he said after casting his ballot in the Central Governorate.

Prince Khalifa said that he hoped to see women in the lower chamber and in the municipal councils. "Bahraini women have always had a pivotal role in the nation-building process," he said.

Women won only one seat in the parliamentary elections in 2006 after Lateefa Al Gaood ran unopposed in the sixth constituency of the Southern Governorate making her first woman in the GCC to enter an elected parliament.

In most centres, a good-natured atmosphere prevailed with candidates sitting together in the polling stations and talking quietly.

Under Bahrain's elections laws, all forms of propaganda and campaigning should be stopped 24 hours before the elections centre open. The laws also ban the presence of active supporters within 200 metres of the centres.