THE number of women running in next month’s national elections has increased by more than 100 per cent this year compared to 2018.
A total of 107 have filed their nominations in the four governorates, as against 49 women during the last elections.
Of the 561 candidates vying for 40 Parliament seats and 30 municipal council seats in the November 12 elections, 369 are running for Parliament and 192 for the municipal councils.
The Capital Trustees Board is nominated by His Majesty King Hamad.
Women form 19.07pc of the total number of candidates who are seeking election this year.
Of the 107, 83 are eyeing a seat in Parliament while 24 are seeking a municipal council seat.
Legalisation and Legal Opinion Commission and Elections executive director Nawaf Hamza said that the numbers underline the political and social contribution made by Bahraini women to the national democratic march.
“A total of 561 candidates have nominated for the Parliament and municipal council elections, which is the highest recorded since 2002,” he said in a statement.
“Women candidates have more than doubled this year, the number reached 107 out of the total number of candidates.”
This year has also witnessed a larger turnout in terms of the number of total candidates compared to the previous polls.
In 2014, 419 candidates contested (266 for Parliament and 153 for municipal council), while in 2018 it was 427 (290 for Parliament and 137 for municipal council).
Women running for Parliament seats this year is, again, more than double – 84 against 41 in the 2018 elections, and 22 in 2014.
The number of women contesting for a municipal council seat this year has also gone up – 24 against eight in 2018, and 12 in 2014.
“The elections’ supervisory committees received 369 applications from candidates intending to run for Parliament, including 83 women, from across all 40 constituencies in the kingdom’s four governorates,” said Mr Hamza.
“They also received 192 applications for municipal council seats, including 24 from women.
“This wide turnout for candidacy, in all governorates, embodies the national awareness and interest in the electoral merit and its role in the process of democratic development, and the effective contribution to building on what has been achieved through constitutional institutions.”
Thirty-three outgoing MPs are contesting in the 2022 elections, while seven, including Parliament Speaker Fouzia Zainal, have backed out.
Any of the supervisory committees’ decisions regarding the candidates’ lists can be challenged before the Civil Higher Court of Appeals until tomorrow.
The lists of candidates will also be displayed at the supervisory centres until tomorrow.
A total of 344,713 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the elections.
The theme of this year’s poll is: “We vote for Bahrain”.
There are 40 constituencies or electoral districts – 12 in the Northern Governorate, 10 each in the Capital and Southern and eight in Muharraq.
Forty individuals will be voted into Parliament while 30 members will be elected to the three municipal councils.
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