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General elections were held inBahrain in November and December 2018 to elect the 40 members of theCouncil 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 asham,[3][4] as they followed a government crackdown on dissent that included prohibiting members of dissolved opposition groups from running.[5] Following the2011 Bahraini protests, all 18 Al Wefaq members on the Council resigned,[6] and were barred from contesting thesubsequent by-elections. Since 2011, authorities have imprisoned hundreds of dissidents, including Al Wefaq leader Sheikh Ali Salman, and stripped many ofBahraini citizenship.[7] Al Wefaq boycotted the2014 Bahraini general election.
The two main opposition groups, theShiiteAl-Wefaq andsecularWaad, 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]
The 40 members of the Council of Representatives were elected from single-member constituencies using atwo-round system; if no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round was held.[9]
Eachgovernorate is divided into a number ofconstituencies 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] | ||||
Candidates had to apply between 17 and 21 October 2018,[1] with 293 registering to contest the 40 seats.[11]
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 the2014 elections. However, the opposition claimed that the real voter turnout did not exceed 28%-30%.[13][14][15]
| 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 2018Archived 2018-12-23 at theWayback Machine,Elections 2018Archived 2018-12-03 at theWayback Machine | |
