Two women win in Bahrain polls
Nine winners as run-offs promise to feature heated races
Manama: Two women were among the nine candidates who won in Bahrain’s parliamentary elections so far, and at least another one will join them on Saturday when the second round is held.
In the municipal elections, held concurrently, one woman was elected councillor while three others could join her if they are voted in.
Two lawmakers from the outgoing parliament were re-elected, indicating a significant change in the makeup of the new one.
Fatima Abbas Qassim and Fawzia Zainal will be making their debut in the 40-member Council of Representatives after they won in the Northern Governorate and in the Southern Governorate, respectively.
In the run-offs to be held on December 1, 10 women will have a new chance to become lawmakers for the 2018-2022 term.
Officials said that 39 women entered the parliamentary race, the highest in the kingdom’s history.
Sitting MP Adel Al Assoomi was easily re-elected in the first constituency of the Capital Governorate. He won in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
The other nine constituency seats will be contested on Saturday, and at least one woman is certain to win as Zainab Abdul Amir and Afaf Al Mosawi will face each other in the run-off.
Other women with chances of winning in the governorate are Sawsan Abdul Rahman, Maasooma Hassan Abdul Hussain, Zahra Eisa Hassan and Iman Hassan Shuwaiter.
In the Muharraq Governorate, two contestants won outright, sitting MP Eisa Al Kooheji and Hisham Ahmad Asheeri.
No woman has made it to the second round in any of the eight constituencies of the island governorate.
In the Northern Governorate, Fatima Abbas Qassim won the second constituency while Abdul Nabi Salman, a 2002-2006 lawmaker representing the Progressive Tribune, a liberal society, made a spectacular comeback to the parliament.
Three women have made it to the second round and still have a chance of reaching parliament - Kaltham Abdul Kareem Al Hayki, Nidhal Al Shoomali and Mariam Jameel Madan.
In the Southern Governorate, Ahmad Yousuf Al Ansari carried the third constituency, Fawzia Abdullah Zainal the fifth, Mohammad Ebrahim Al Buainain the eighth and Eisa Youssuf Al Dossari the tenth.
Nesreen Maaroof is the only woman in the governorate to stand a chance in Saturday’s run-off.
None of the three women in the outgoing parliament will be in the new formation. Two had decided not to seek re-election while the third lost in the race on November 24.
In the municipal elections where eight women were running, Badriya Ebrahim Abdullah was the only woman to win after she ran unopposed in the second constituency of the Northern Governorate.
Three other women beat rivals to reach the second round and could be elected on Saturday