Manama: Next Saturday, Bahrain could have its first woman municipal councilor after the two candidates Fatima Salman and Sabah Al Dossari made it to the second round of elections.
Fatima will face Mohammad Ali Al Sinan in the second constituency of the Muharraq Governorate and Sabah will face Ali Al Moqla in the seventh constituency of the Muharraq Governorate.
Three women have signed up to seek a municipal seat despite strong opposition from Islamist societies on the grounds that the character and volume of municipal work would not be suitable for women.
Nine women ran in the 2010 parliamentary elections and Lateefa Al Gaood was assured of a new term after no candidate challenged her.
Preliminary results indicate that Muneera Fakhroo, the only woman to be on a list of a political society, would have a second chance in the run-off next week while the other seven women candidates lost the race.
The reportedly poor performance by women candidates will put political societies under fire for failing once more to support women and, more ominously, will reinforce the growing feeling that Bahraini women, despite achievements in all other fields, will not be allowed by their own society to enter the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament.
The upper chamber whose 40 members are appointed by the king had 10 women in 2006 -2010. Its second deputy chair was Alice Samaan, a woman from the Christian minority.
The upper chamber had a Jewish woman member, Huda Nonoo, currently Bahrain's ambassador to the United States.
