Ahmad Al Mulla
Ahmad Al Mulla never thought that he should try to become a member of parliament. As a legal consultant, he thought that he had made all his professional choices and that he should keep on moving contently.
Yet, he could not get rid of a feeling deep inside that his destiny was to do more for his fellow citizens and for his country.
“One day, I decided to contest in the elections and seek to become a lawmaker,” he said. “I wanted to strike a balance between helping my neighbours and serving my nation in a manner that would consolidate development, security, stability and a strong sense of citizenship. I have always resented sectarianism and narrow-mindedness and I thought that by working with other lawmakers, we could make a difference.”
The elections programme Al Mulla is sharing with his constituents insists that financial assistance should benefit Bahrainis first.
“We have to ensure that the needy in Bahrain are given the top priority,” he said. “It is not fair to collect money in Bahrain and then send it abroad under various guises. If no money had been sent abroad in the past few years, there would have been no needy families in Bahrain.”
Al Mulla who served on the military court said that he was not under pressure to prove his steel nerves and readiness to take on challenges regardless of how formidable they looked.
“When you are driven by a strong force to achieve results, tangible results for your country, then you cannot allow yourself to have doubts, even for fleeting seconds. You move forward and seek to outperform yourself,” he said in his quiet voice.
Five people, including Sami Al Buhairi, the constituency representative for the last eight years, are competing against Al Mulla. Only Al Buhairi is supported by a political group, while the others are running independently.
With about 50 per cent of eligible voters in nationwide polls saying that they would support independent candidates, Al Mulla believes he is destined to win
Muneera Fakhroo
In the beginning, she said that she would not run again in parliamentary elections. Her experience in 2006 has left deep scars. Too deep to be forgotten. But she later changed her mind. She did not want to be seen as too vulnerable to to win a competition, no matter how formidable her foe is.
Muneera Fakhroo is no stranger to civil society activism. An Associate Professor at the University of Bahrain, she has a long history of interest in civil progress in the Arabian Gulf and in women’s rights.
She has a university degree in Arabic literature, a Masters in social development and social planning and a PhD in social policy planning and administration from Columbia University.
She started off her career at the labour and social affairs in charge of the welfare department, but soon moved to the University of Bahrain.
However, she was suspended from her job in 1995 after she supported a petition calling for political changes. Muneera went back to the US, but returned with the launch of the reforms in 2001 and took up her job at the university.
She later joined the National Democratic Action Society (Waad), the most liberal society in Bahrain, and decided to run in the 2006 elections mainly against Salah Ali, the leader of the Islamic Menbar, the offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Muneera lost, but only after she forced a second round on her opponent. Claims of tampering with the votes in Salah Ali’s favour were never substantiated and she withdrew from the public eye until she decided to run again in 2010.
She quickly waded into controversy. Her motto “Enough Corruption” on her banners led the municipality in Isa Town to remove her posters and she took her case to the courts. She was vindicated twice and allowed to keep her posters.
“I am confident that I will win this time,” she said. “So many things have changed and I too have accumulated enough experiences to move forward. I know that I have a lot of support among women and young people.”
Muneera is a board member of Bahrain’s Supreme Council for Women.
