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MANAMA: Bahrainis headed to the polls Saturday, with greater than 330 candidates, together with a report 73 girls, competing to affix the 40-seat council of representatives – the decrease home of parliament that advises King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa. That is up from the 293 individuals – together with 41 girls – who ran for parliament within the final election in 2018. Strains shaped outdoors among the kingdom’s 55 polling stations earlier than they opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT). Amina Issa, head of a polling station in Manama, mentioned turnout was “intense for the reason that first hours, and the numbers are steadily rising”.
Bahrainis overseas forged their ballots on Tuesday at 37 embassies and diplomatic missions. A candidate should get hold of 51 % of the votes to win membership within the council of representatives, after which a run-off can be held after few days if not one of the candidates get hold of this share. Municipal council elections additionally happened, with 175 candidates together with 20 girls competing for 30 seats, whereas the federal government will appoint 10 members.
Elections happen in Bahrain each 4 years since 2002, and folks elect 40 members of the council of representatives from 40 electoral districts. In line with the 2002 structure, Bahraini residents over the age of 20 have the suitable to take part within the elections for the Home of Representatives, with one vote for every citizen based on their place of residence. As for the municipal elections, residents of GCC nations have the suitable to vote if they’ve everlasting residence in Bahrain, whereas foreigners can vote within the municipal elections in the event that they personal actual property or land in Bahrain.
A authorities spokesperson mentioned in an announcement on Saturday that Bahrain was a “vibrant democracy”. “The train of political rights in Bahrain is protected by the structure, barring circumstances the place nomination necessities will not be met – that is commonplace observe in all democratic nations,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Necessities embrace not having a prison report or not belonging to a society dissolved on account of their court-proven involvement in acts of violence in contravention of respectable political exercise.”
The spokesperson added: “The best to vote too can be a constitutional proper, however not an obligation. Nobody is penalized for selecting to not vote.” However the nation has barred its two foremost opposition teams from fielding candidates – Al-Wefaq and Waad, which have been dissolved in 2016 and 2017.
A hacking operation on Friday focused the official elections web site in addition to web sites for parliament and the state information company, although all three have been restored by Saturday afternoon. The inside ministry mentioned on Twitter the websites have been “focused to hinder the elections and flow into unfavourable messages in determined makes an attempt” to discourage voting. The identification of the hackers was not instantly clear.
Almost 350,000 individuals have been eligible to vote Saturday. Polling stations closed at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT). “The environment is sweet. I didn’t wait in line for greater than 10 minutes,” mentioned Nouf Ibrahim, a mom of three within the capital Manama. Justice Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed Al-Maawda mentioned voting was “operating easily”.
Dwelling to 1.4 million individuals, Bahrain is made up of 1 giant island and round 34 smaller ones located off the east coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it’s linked by a causeway. At simply 700 sq km, it’s the smallest nation within the Center East. Situated simply throughout the Gulf from Iran, the island state is a strategic Western ally and normalized ties with the Zionist entity in 2020. It hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, with round 7,800 US navy personnel deployed within the nation. In 2018, Britain opened its first everlasting navy base within the Center East since 1971, close to Bahrain’s capital Manama the place it deploys round 300 troops. – Companies
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