‘2018 BCCI election to be most unpredictable’

Manama : Unlike the previous elections, the upcoming Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) election in 2018 is going to be the most unpredictable as the number of potential voters have risen more than fivefold, according to Mahmood Al Namliti, a prominent businessman and a candidate for the election. 

The number of people who are eligible to vote in the upcoming BCCI election is close to 60,000, compared to the 11,000 voters in the last term, said Al Namliti. 

According to him, this takes the election to a different level. “This has huge implications, the chamber never had an election like this. The massive increase in the number of voters means that it becomes all the more unpredictable,” he said.

“In the last few years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of businessmen with the chamber membership. This is partly due to the increase in the number of businesses opening. Second: the chamber has taken initiatives to have more members,” he added. 

“Most of the new voters will be small businesses, their votes are going to make a huge difference. So it is important to understand their needs,” he said, adding “Having 60,000 potential voters will mean that the voting day will have to be meticulously planned. Obviously, not all 60,000 will come to vote, perhaps only half of the number will show up. But even then, it is a huge jump from the last election. So it will need to be organized in a much bigger way to accommodate the new people,” he said.

He said that the new board that would be elected must be from diverse business backgrounds. “I hope that we can have diversity in expertise, with experts from all fields being represented. We need businessmen with a background in medicine, engineering, agriculture and so on. If its only one field, let’s say only engineers get elected, it would be unhealthy,” he said.

He said he has started preparation for his election campaign. “We have started already, I am very positive about this election,” he said.