Election fever grips Bahrain

Parliamentary hopefuls offer colourful pledges of improving living conditions

With only a few weeks for Bahrain’s quadrennial parliamentary and municipal elections, candidates are taking matters into their own hands, reaching out to voters in every possible way, combining traditional ways with modern technology.

Although the final list of candidates will not be announced until November 7, hopefuls have opted to announce their candidacies and making promises.

A headcount of those who have used newspapers or their social media accounts to share their parliamentary polls plans now stands at more than 300 candidates who will be vying for the 40 seats in the Council of Representatives, the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament, and for the municipal council seats.

The hopefuls are a mixture of familiar faces and newcomers, all making strong promises to improve living conditions, boost employment opportunities and improve infrastructure.

“I will harness all my efforts and professional experience in the service of citizens and in conveying their aspirations with all honesty and sincerity,” Waleed Al Thawadi said as he announced his candidacy.

Aliaa Rashid Al Junaid, an architect, said she was confident about the chances of women winning seats this year.

“There have been tremendous efforts to empower women politically and there are now better opportunities for women to succeed in elections,” she said as she reached out to the public through her Instagram account.

The final list will be announced on November 7 and the elections will be held on November 24. The second round will be on December 1 in constituencies where none of the candidates have secured at least 50 per cent of the votes.