Bahraini.TV

A vote of confidence

Bahrainis delivered a massive vote of confidence in their democracy yesterday, with an estimated 72 per cent turnout for the parliamentary and municipal council elections. This was 18pc up on the turnout for elections in 2002, said High Elections Committee executive director Wael Buallay, shortly after polling stations closed.
Information Minister Dr Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar described [...]

Poll Pledge

Bahrain will go to the polls by December 13 at the latest it was declared yesterday.
The deadline for the municipal and parliamentary elections was revealed for the first time by Minister of State for Cabinet affairs and Central Informatics Organisation Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa.
He said the exact date for the elections would be [...]

Electronic voting drive launched

A campaign was launched last night to teach people about the e-voting system to be used in the forthcoming municipal and parliament elections.
More than 50 representatives of various political societies and non-governmental organisations attended a workshop on e-voting at the InterContinental Hotel last night.
It was addressed by Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) IT director general Mohammed [...]

الانتخابات لن تكون خلال شهرين ولن تتجاوز 13 ديسمبر

أكد وزير الدولة لشئون مجلس الوزراء رئيس الجهاز المركزي للمعلومات الشيخ أحمد بن عطية الله آل خليفة أن الحكومة ملتزمة بإجراء الانتخابات في موعدها، وهذا الموعد لن يتجاوز بأي حال من الأحوال تاريخ 13 ديسمبر/ كانون الأول 2006 وفق الاشتراطات الدستورية، أما تحديد اليوم بالضبط والدعوة إلى الانتخاب في اليوم والتاريخ المحدد، فيصدر به مرسوم [...]

Bahrain’s opposition Shias to fight the system from within

Bahrain’s Shia Muslim opposition boycotted the political process for four years, but have now decided to take part in the next elections in a bid to change the Sunni government from within.
The boycott by four Shia movements in 2002 effectively ended on May 1, when the largest of them, Al Wefaq (the Islamic National Accord [...]

New licences ruled out

Information Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar last night
ruled out granting any new licences to private radio and television channels. “There is no law regulating such activities”, he added.
GDN :: 24 June ‘06 (pdf)

King Should Reject Law on Public Gatherings

The Bahraini government’s draft legislation on public meetings and demonstrations undermines the right of peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter urging Bahrain’s king not sign the bill into law.
The draft law will be the first significant human rights-related legislation to come before Bahrain’s king, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for [...]

Budget Row

MPs threatened not to rubber stamp Bahrain’s 2007-2008 budget yesterday, demanding more time to study it.The Cabinet is expected to hand over the two-year budget next week and ask MPs to approve it in “urgent” talks.
That means MPs will have two weeks to study, approve or reject the budget.
But parliament’s financial and economic committee has [...]

MPs in bid to overturn vote

A decision by parliament to only question government ministers on irregularities behind closed doors could be overturned.
Ten MPs have signed an urgent request to scrap last week’s controversial vote and have a fresh one.
Ministers could previously be summoned before a full session of parliament and be grilled on the open floor, but only after first [...]

شيخ دين مقاطع ومهندس عرائض من قلب قرية «قلالي»

«حــق» ليســت متشــددة
قلالي – فهيم عبدالله
يمثل وضعا غريبا بالنسبة إليه كرجل دين سني، إذ كان على رأس مجموعة معارضة جريئة إبان أيام أمن الدولة.
.. وكان ضمن مجموعة مهندسي العرائض التاريخية بدءاً من العريضة النخبوية في مطلع التسعينات والعريضة الشعبية بعدها بسنين، ومن ثم العريضة الأممية التي تجمع توقيعاتها حركة «حق» في هذه الأيام، يكاد [...]

Walkout!

MPs Jassim Abdul-A’al (left) and Mohammed Al-Shaikh walking out of parliament in disgust yesterday.

Three MPs stormed out of parliament yesterday accusing their colleagues of being “government-run” and throwing away the public’s rights.
They walked out of the session after MPs voted in favour of questioning government ministers behind closed doors, when allegations of irregularities are involved.
Ministers [...]

Twenty-one women set to run in Bahrain parliament, municipal polls

Twenty-one women are expected to run in Bahrain’s second parliamentary and municipal elections set to take place later this year, it was announced Monday.
The 21 female candidates will be seeking municipal and parliamentary seats, according to Supreme Council of Women (SCW) Vice Secretary General Hala Mohammed Jaber Al Ansari.
Altogether, 82 Bahraini women had undergone training [...]

Hospitals and malls out of bounds for Bahrain rallyists

Bahrain’s lower house has approved a new law that bans rallies near airports, hospitals and shopping malls, but allows them on the main avenues and near diplomatic missions.
Rallies are also banned in locations deemed security-sensitive by the Interior Minister, the Council of Representatives agreed on Tuesday afternoon following a heated debate over the merits of [...]

Official of US institute leaves

National Democratic Institute official Fawzi Guleid (third from right, back row), during a farewell ceremony held in his honour on Thursday night in Manama. EPA
National Democratic Institute, Bahrain Programme Officer Fawzi Guleid yesterday left Bahrain amid uncertainties about the future of the Washington-based institute in Manama.
Guleid had been asked by immigration authorities to leave by [...]

جوليد «مخالف للقانون» حسب المزاج

سيسجل معهد البحرين للتنمية السياسية أول إنجازاته يوم الجمعة المقبل (12 مايو/ أيار) عندما يغادر البحرين خبير المعهد الوطني الديمقراطي الأميركي فوزي جوليد مع عائلته.
فبعد أن سحب معهد التنمية جواز سفر الاخ فوزي جوليد (منذ نوفمبر/ تشرين الثاني الماضي) عومل كأنه مجرم بحيث وقف قبل ثلاثة أيام في طابور في إدارة الجوازات لكي يتم [...]