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, with a second round in 31 constituencies on Saturday, 1 December.Bahrain announces election results as palace prepares for visit from Saudi crown prince The National, 25 November 2018 A municipal poll coincided with the parliamentary vote.
The elections were considered to be a sham,What "Elections" in Bahrain Can Teach Us About Politics in the Middle East UN Dispatch, 7 December 2018 as they followed a government crackdown on dissent that included prohibiting members of dissolved opposition groups from running. Following the 2011 Bahraini protests, all 18 Al Wefaq members on the Council resigned,Bahraini woman dies 'during protest' Al Jazeera, 16 July 2011 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. 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.Experts cast doubt on upcoming Bahrain elections 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.
Electoral system 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.Electoral system IPU
Constituencies 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 10Muharraq Governorate 189,114 86,870 102,244 8Northern Governorate 276,949 82,887 194,062 12Southern Governorate 101,456 68,525 32,931 10Other 11,237 11,237 Total 1,234,571 666,172 568,399 40Source: CIO
Campaign Candidates had to apply between 17 and 21 October 2018, with 293 registering to contest the 40 seats.Bahrain poll results expected today Gulf News, 25 November 2018
Results Nine of the 40 constituencies were decided in the first round, with the other 31 going to a runoff.Run-off for 31 seats after first round of Bahrain's elections GDN Online, 26 November 2018 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%.
List of elected members ConstituencyElected memberCapital FirstAbel Abdulrahman Mohammed Ahmed AlasoomiCapital SecondSawsan Mohamed Abdulrahim KamalCapital ThirdMamdooh Abbas Ahmad AlsalehCapital FourthAmmar Ahmed Ghuloom AlbannaiCapital FifthAhmed Sabah Salman AlsalloomCapital SixthMasooma Hasan Abdulhusain AbdulrahimCapital SeventhZainab Abdulameer Khalil EbrahimCapital EighthFadhel Abbas Ali Isa AlsawadCapital NinthAmmar Husain Ebrahim AbbasCapital TenthAli Mohamed Isa Abdulla IshaqiMuharraq FirstHamad Ahmed Mohamed Saleh AlkoohejiMuharraq SecondEbrahim Khalid Ebrahim AlnefaeiMuharraq ThirdMohamed Isa Ahmed Abdulla AliMuharraq FourthGhazi Abdulaziz Yusuf Jaafar AlmurbatiMuharraq FifthKhaled Saleh Ahmed BuanaqMuharraq SixthHisham Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed AlasheeriMuharraq SeventhAmmar Sami Ali Hasan QambarMuharraq EighthYusuf Ahmed Hasan Hohamed AlthawadiNorthern FirstKaltham Abdulkareem JassimNorthern SecondFatima Abbas Qasim MohamedNorthern ThirdAbdulla Ebrahim Mubarak Khalil AldoseriNorthern FourthGhazi Faisal Hasan Husain al RahmaNorthern FifthSayed Falah Hashem Falah AbdullaNorthern SixthAbdulnabi Salman Ahmed NaserNorthern SeventhAhmed Yusuf Ahmed AldamestaniNorthern EighthAbdulla Khalifa Juma Abdulkarim AlthawadiNorthern NinthYusuf Zainalabddin Mohamed ZainalNorthern TenthBasem Salman Mohamed Salman Erhama AlmalkiNorthern EleventhMohamed Khalifa Abdulla Husain BuhamoodNorthern TwelfthMahmood Maki Salman AlbahraniSouthern FirstAhmed Mohamed Ahmed Saad AlaamerSouthern SecondIsa Ali Jamal AlquadhiSouthern ThirdAhmed Yusuf Abdulqader Mohamed AlansariSouthern FourthAli Ahmed Ali ZayedSouthern FifthFawzia ZainalSouthern SixthAbdulrazaq Abdulla Ali HattabSouthern SeventhAli Majed Ali Hasan Almajed AlnoaimiSouthern EighthMohamed Ebrahim Ali Muhana Alsisi AlbuainainSouthern NinthBader Saood Jabur Abdulla AldoseriSouthern TenthIsa Yusuf Abdulla Ahmed AldoseriSource: Elections 2018 , Elections 2018
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