Public participation in civic affairs

The Bahrain municipal election, starting today, presents first hand evidence of the democratic process in action after political changes were introduced there recently. After it was declared a constitutional kingdom in February this year, His Majesty the King, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, dissolved the Consultative Council (Shura) and annulled the emergency law of 1975 that suspended legislative elections.

He then replaced the Consultative Council by a new legislature, the National Assembly, that consists of two chambers. The Consultative Council – one of these two chambers – will be elected in October 2002 and the Chamber of Deputies will be appointed by the government. He also adopted the amended constitution.

Prior to that, Bahrain endorsed a referendum of the National Charter, which stipulated constitutional reform and the modernisation of institutions. The amendments included the participation of women in elections and their right to become members in parliament, the establishment of a constitutional court that monitors the legality of laws with judges that cannot be disposed of; and the totally independent status of the finance-auditing bureau.

The issuing of the new Municipality Law is another progressive step towards realising democracy in Bahrain. This law stipulates the election of representatives to the municipalities. Accordingly, each governorate is considered a municipal council and shall be divided into ten districts.

The country is, therefore, divided into five municipal councils – Manama, Muharraq, Northern District, Central District and Southern District. Each of these municipalities has a statute and will control its own finances and administration.

The municipal councils are entrusted with providing suggestions and decisions in relation to construction, maintenance and cleaning of roads, special systems that ensure public health, protection of the environment, monitoring the lighting, water and sewage systems, the establishment and maintenance of public parks, markets, and localities for burying waste material, and all public services that relate to the governorates.

All Bahraini men and women are eligible to vote and to be elected as members of the board of directors of the municipal council for a term of four years. Moreover, GCC nationals who are permanent residents of Bahrain and others who own real estate, regardless of their nationality, have such a right. The voter is not allowed to register his name in more than one polling district or more than one electoral list. The list of voters is estimated at 237,503.

Voters should be 21 years old, have complete legal capacity, be of sound mental state and reside in the polling district mentioned in their Central Population Registration card. For voters who reside abroad, their electoral district will be the last place they or their family lived in. Those convicted of a criminal act or crimes related to honesty or integrity are not allowed to vote unless their civil rights have been restored.

Those convicted of an election crime and penalised with a prison sentence do not have the right to vote unless the sentence is suspended, or their civil rights have been restored.

Candidates nominated for municipality elections should be Bahraini, at least 30 years old. They must be able to read and write Arabic fluently and must be eligible to practice all their political and civil rights.

They should be registered on the electoral list of the district where they are nominated, should live within this district's municipality boundaries for the term of membership in the council, and should have paid their municipality fees.

The list of candidates includes a total of 320 persons, of which 34 are women. The process of elections is comprehensive as detailed in the law on municipal elections. In essence, to proceed for the municipal election, the candidate should apply in writing to the committee.

The candidate should mention in his application the names of ten voters who support him and reside in the same district. Each of these ten voters will be eligible to nominate one candidate only.

The candidate has the right to withdraw his or her application in writing at least seven days before election day.

The election is carried out by secret ballot with voters allowed to vote only once. People who can't read and write will vote verbally to the committee, and should not be heard by others. Once the election is over, the votes are counted and candidates or their representatives have the right to attend the counting process.

The candidate is selected if he or she achieves a majority of positive votes. If none of the candidates achieves a majority, the election is repeated for the two candidates who scored the highest votes, and the one obtaining the majority wins a seat in the municipal council. If the number of candidates in a municipal district does not exceed the number required for that district then these candidates are considered winners.

Every candidate has the right to appeal against the results of the election before the Court of Cassation. The candidate is withdrawn if the appeal is accepted and the court can appoint the candidate that scored the second highest number of votes if the election process was found to be legal. Otherwise, the court can order a re-election in that district.

A special committee is assigned to each municipal council to monitor the integrity of the elections. Also, each voting and screening committee is chaired by a judicial official.

It is important to note that the first municipality was established in Bahrain in 1919. In 1920, the first municipality law was issued stipulating a municipal council of 16 members. Half of these members were elected and the other half appointed by the government. Women took part in the municipal elections in 1951-52. Such municipal elections continued till the sixties, when the municipal councils were dissolved.

After the independence of Bahrain in 1971 the municipality became a governmental department and in 1973 the central municipality authority was established. This authority performed all the functions of the dissolved municipal councils.

With these elections, Bahrain has gone ahead with increasing public participation in managing municipal services and running public affairs. The role of the elected members will be to ensure the effectiveness of these decentralised, independent municipal councils in providing the best services for the five governorates.