Gulf | Bahrain

Society denies report on exclusion of women

Al Wefaq Society yesterday dismissed as "pure speculations" claims that it had been ordered by top Shiite scholars not to present any women candidates in the forthcoming municipal and parliamentary elections.

  • By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
  • Published: 00:00 August 28, 2006
  • Gulf News

Manama: Al Wefaq Society yesterday dismissed as "pure speculations" claims that it had been ordered by top Shiite scholars not to present any women candidates in the forthcoming municipal and parliamentary elections.

"We strongly deny the recent media reports that alleged that the Islamic Scholars Council has asked us to exclude women from the elections.

"There are no such orders, instructions or recommendations from any organisation as far as we are concerned," a society spokesman said in a statement sent to Gulf News.

"We are still working on ... the list of our candidates for the parliamentary elections and whatever is being published about it right now is no more than speculations that are not based on facts from reliable sources," Faheem Abdullah said.

But a society insider told Gulf News that the list, still in the fine-tuning stages, would not include women.

"The final details being discussed right now are about a couple of candidates and they are all men," the source said. "There was a decision to support a woman, Muneera Fakhro, but she is not an Al Wefaq member. Al Wefaq is endorsing her candidacy in a constituency where the society has no chance of winning anyway."

The exclusion of women from the Al Wefaq list would be a devastating blow to efforts by women's rights activists to help women win seats in the November elections. Due to deep-rooted social traditions, no woman could expect to win without the endorsement of religious figures.

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