Results arrive in first phase of Bahrain election
Six candidates including one woman won seats in a first phase of Bahrain’s parliamentary election, while others will compete for the remaining 34 seats in the main event next week, authorities announced Sunday.
Bahraini voters cast their ballots in polling stations across the small Gulf kingdom on Saturday.
Justice Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed al-Maawda told reporters late Saturday that turnout was 73 percent in the poll, contested by a record number of candidates.
This was “the highest participation rate since 2002,” he said, and “no violations (..) were recorded.”
More than 330 candidates, including a record 73 women, are competing to join the 40-seat council of representatives -- the lower house of parliament that advises King Hamad, who has ruled since his father died in March 1999.
This is up from the 293 people -- including 41 women -- who ran for parliament in the last election in 2018.
On Sunday, the results showed that six candidates, five men and one woman, won seats, while the remaining seats will be contested in a run-off next Saturday.
This is the third election since demonstrations in 2011 driven by demands for a constitutional monarchy and other political reforms.
Bahrain, the host of the US Fifth Fleet, often accuses its neighbor Iran of training armed groups in order to cause unrest, a charge Tehran denies.
The number of registered voters in the Gulf kingdom is about 350,000 people out of a population of about 1.4 million people.
Justice Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed al-Maawda told reporters late Saturday that turnout was 73 percent in the poll, contested by a record number of candidates.
This was “the highest participation rate since 2002,” he said, and “no violations (..) were recorded.”
More than 330 candidates, including a record 73 women, are competing to join the 40-seat council of representatives -- the lower house of parliament that advises King Hamad, who has ruled since his father died in March 1999.
This is up from the 293 people -- including 41 women -- who ran for parliament in the last election in 2018.
On Sunday, the results showed that six candidates, five men and one woman, won seats, while the remaining seats will be contested in a run-off next Saturday.
This is the third election since demonstrations in 2011 driven by demands for a constitutional monarchy and other political reforms.
Bahrain, the host of the US Fifth Fleet, often accuses its neighbor Iran of training armed groups in order to cause unrest, a charge Tehran denies.
The number of registered voters in the Gulf kingdom is about 350,000 people out of a population of about 1.4 million people.
