National Unity Assembly to take part in 2018 elections

Manama : One of the main political blocs in the Kingdom has announced its intention to compete in the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections, ending a four-year political hiatus. 

“National Unity Assembly (NUA) candidates will run for election by the end of this year,” said Sheikh Abdulateef Al Mahmood, the head of NUA. 

During a conference held at the Engineers Society in Juffair, yesterday, Al Mahmood also urged the voters to remain more vigilant and choose their representatives wisely in the upcoming elections.

Bahrainis, according to Sheikh Abdulateef, have experienced the result of electing independent MPs, who have weakened the work of the House of Representatives. 

According to him, “Support of popular political societies, that follow clear electoral agendas, is a must for House of Representatives to perform their tasks effectively.”

Independent individuals, Al Mahmood said, cannot or won’t be able to carry out the multifaceted parliamentary duties, activities, and goals effectively. 

The NUA head also pointed out that the elections experiment in Bahrain have proved that “independents weakens the work of the Parliament.”

He, however, said that the society “do not underestimate the efforts of members of the parliamentary assemblies in the previous four legislative terms, since 2002”. 

“Each term had a special experiment and its members gained certain experience. But we believe that the reform project of His Majesty the King will not pay off unless the electoral work is developed based on programmes provided by political societies and collective action,” Al Mahmood said.