Court to decide on 17 pleas after Bahrain election candidature rejections

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

The Second High Civil Court of Appeal will decide on 17 pleas following the rejection of candidatures in connection with the upcoming Parliament and Municipal Councils elections by the electoral supervisory committee.

The candidatures were rejected over criminal accusations, address issues, absence of name in the voters’ list as well as lack of Arabic proficiency.

The appeals can be filed until October 18 and the court rulings will be issued by October 25.

Among the appellants is lawmaker Adel Al Asoomi whose candidature was rejected by the electoral committee after accepting the claims in the complaint filed by one of the opposing candidates from the First Constituency of the Capital Governorate Murad Ali Murad.

Mr Al Asoomi, a four-time lawmaker, has been an active member of the parliament and he has raised and highlighted many issues of public concern.

Well-known across the Arab world, Al Asoomi was re-elected as Arab Parliament Speaker a few days ago, becoming the first Bahraini to hold the post for two years.

Dr Sharaf Al Mazal, another potential Parliamentary candidate, whose candidature from the Fourth District in the Northern Governorate, was rejected by the committee, has also filed an appeal and is waiting a judgement in favour.

Potential candidates for municipal council and parliament elections waiting for the judgments over their appeals are Mohamed Salah Bouanq, Hassan Bin Rajab, Saleh Al Sada, Iman Shakib, Hassan Al Nasr, Ahmed Hamza Hashem, Fatima Ahmed Hassan, Muhammad Jaafar Al Mulla, Nadia Abdel Rahman, Ali Al Shakhouri, Ali Shamout, Hamid Samir, Zahra Bakkali and Muhammad Al Othman.

Close to 300 observers belonging to civil societies and non-governmental organisations will be taking up the electoral role to function as poll monitors.

According to Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission President and Election Executive Director Nawaf Abdullah Hamza, the authorities will be striving to ensure the commitment to uphold citizens’ constitutional rights of choosing their representatives throughout the two decades since the launch of the first legislative term in 2002.

He has stressed that the electoral process will be monitored and supervised by the judiciary throughout all its stages, to ensure transparency and the integrity of the elections.

And that the higher committee will continue to cooperate with independent civil societies to monitor the electoral process.

Among the 561 candidates contesting in 40 parliamentary and 30 municipal council seats, 107 are women, creating a milestone in the empowerment of women within the democratic process.

The final list of candidates will be announced on October 26. The Kingdom will head to the polls on November 12 with a run-off fixed on November 19.