Sunni groups win Bahrain majority
Shia opposition groups did well in the first round of elections
Pro-government Sunni groups have won nine seats in the second round of parliamentary voting in Bahrain to reach a total of 22 and secure a majority in the 40-seat legislature.
The Shia-led opposition gained two seats after Saturday’s vote for a total of 18.
Despite failing to win a majority, the election was being hailed as a major step forward for Bahrain’s Shia majority and the country’s democracy.
It was the first time in decades that parties representing the Shia majority had participated in elections in the Sunni-ruled country.
Sunni groups win Bahrain majority
Shia opposition groups did well in the first round of elections
Pro-government Sunni groups have won nine seats in the second round of parliamentary voting in Bahrain to reach a total of 22 and secure a majority in the 40-seat legislature.
The Shia-led opposition gained two seats after Saturday’s vote for a total of 18.
Despite failing to win a majority, the election was being hailed as a major step forward for Bahrain’s Shia majority and the country’s democracy.
It was the first time in decades that parties representing the Shia majority had participated in elections in the Sunni-ruled country.
Bahrainis voted to choose the final 11 MPs on Saturday.
Shia gain
The leftist opposition National Democratic Action Association [NDAA], supported by the Shia-led Islamic National Accord Association [INAA] which gained 16 seats in the first round, contested in four of the remaining seats up for grabs in the 40-seat parliament.
Both opposition groups boycotted the last election in 2002, the first such vote in Bahrain since 1973.
Results from the November 25 first round gave the INAA control of more than 40 per cent of the elected chamber – a share set to rise in the second round.
The success of the Shia opposition in a country which is home to the US Fifth Fleet comes against the background of the Shia rise to dominance in Iraq and Shia Iran’s defiance of Western demands over its nuclear ambitions.
A second round of municipal elections also took place on Saturday to pick 16 out of 40 local council members.
Sheikh Ali Salman, the INAA’s charismatic leader who led the group’s ticket, told AFP that all INAA candidates were expected to win in the second round.
“If this doesn’t happen, it will be because of fraud,” he said after the first round.
Sharing power
None of the 16 women among the 206 candidates made it to the second round, but women are guaranteed a seat in the house which has gone to Latifa al-Qouhoud, who stood unopposed in her constituency, making her the first woman MP in Bahrain’s history.
The elected chamber will have to coexist with an upper chamber appointed by King Hamad, and share its legislative powers, an arrangement which prompted the opposition to boycott the 2002 polls, which were the first since the elected parliament was scrapped in 1975.
Opposition groups continue to object to the legislative powers granted to the appointed consultative council, which also has 40 members.
Source: Agencies
