Polls to warm up winter

The Kingdom is all set to hold its elections to the parliament and municipal councils as doors have closed for the candidacy. The elections will be held beginning November 24.

This year’s elections is one to be observed closely as the country’s priorities have shifted during the past four years and with many political societies being completely absent, this has opened doors to more independents and youth to explore their chances of walking into the 2018 parliament far away from sectarian politics and boycotts, Citizens for Bahrain, a collective to uphold democratic values, said in a press release issued.

Among the registered candidates, 42 are women, which is the highest on record. Twelve incumbent MPs are not contesting elections this time. The list includes Parliament Speaker Ahmed Al Mulla and his two deputies Ali Al Aradi and Al Asalah Society’s Abdulhalim Murad.

Two of the three 2014 women MPs, Dr. Jameela Al Sammak and Fatima Al Asfoor will not be running for the 2018 elections. The number of candidates has increased by 56 percent when compared to last elections while 15 current municipal council members have joined the parliamentary race.