Now Bahrain MPs can vote online!
TDT | Manama
The coronavirus pandemic has upended the world and altered the way we live and work.
Now, it is also changing the parliamentary work.
Virtual sessions are increasingly on the cards here in the Kingdom with the parliament commissioning an application to facilitate virtual voting for parliamentarians during sessions.
As the prolonged absence of House procedures, experts say, would harm the legislative process.
The move also follows a letter written by the Supreme Council for Health suggesting to Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to hold sessions virtually until end October and take appropriate decision afterwards by assessing the virus situation in the Kingdom.
The suggestion also comes as the parliament is to start its sessions next Sunday. It is at this juncture that parliament, as directed by the Speaker, has launched the electronic voting system. The new system, reported- ly, allows parliamentarians to make their choices with ease during a voting session.
The application, Counsellor Rashid Muhammad Bunjimah, Secretary-General of the Council said, will ensure the smooth and safe functioning of parliamentary work.
To cast a vote, all needed is logging on to the interface and register choice when the Speaker allows.
The system, developed by the Information Technology Department of the General Secretariat, is exclusively for the voting process.
The General-Secretariat said it had prepared a set of administrative and technical measures to ensure the normal function- ing of the parliament in line with the preventive measures and measures recommended by the national team to combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
However, it is not clear if the parliament is opting for a virtual session or a hybrid ses- sion where some lawmakers are physically present while others join online.
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