Bahrain is expected to hold elections this November. As yet there is no confirmed date on which the elections will take place. The Kingdom of Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy. The 2020 constitution grants the King the power to head both the legislative and executive authority as expressed in Article 32.
The 2016 dissolution of major political parties conducted as per the political isolation law is controversial as the law disenfranchises candidates previously associated with the major opposition parties from participating in the elections. Article 3 of the Law on Exercising Political Rights as amended in 2018 has banned prominent opposition political societies such as Al-Wefaq and Wa’ad on grounds of inciting violence and terrorism. The Council of Representatives (or parliament) lacks political strength. The largest remaining opposition political society in parliament is Al-Asalah, a conservative Sunni party with just three seats.
The imprisonment of Sheikh Ali Salman
The imprisonment of Al-Wefaq leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, is problematic. He was accused of communicating with Qatar officials to overthrow the constitutional order. Sheikh Ali was arrested on 28 December 2014 after having been summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for holding a conference of the Al-Wefaq General Assembly. He was acquitted of all charges in 2018 however the prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling family, giving him a life sentence instead.
The Next Century Foundation has respectfully appealed to the Bahrain government to overturn Article 3 and allow formerly dissolved opposition parties to contest the elections. Arguably the Bahrain government should also release any political detainees still detained for supporting Qatar during 2017 GCC crisis.
The Bahrain government in its 2017 review did accept several recommendations such as protecting the rights to freedom of association and the rights of all individuals to participate in legitimate political activities. However, there has not be encouraging progress in this matter.
Key speakers for the Bahrain conference session
Our principal speaker in the Next Century Foundation’s Bahrain discussion, Ali AlAswad, is a former Bahrain MP as a leading member of opposition political society, Al-Wefaq.
His tweets and articles on the Middle East provide an insight to Bahrain politics. Ali AlAswad insists that the Bahrain government and opposition members should engage in productive and peaceful dialogue to avert civil strife. He feels that the deep divide is unsustainable for future generations.
He will be in discussion with Dr William Morris, the NCF Secretary General and they will examine the inner workings of Bahrain’s political system in what we hope will be an eye-opening discussion on the 2022 Bahrain elections.
