WPolitics of Bahrain has since 2002 taken place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy where the government is appointed by the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The head of the government since 2020 is Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who became Prime Minister following the death of Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and who also serves as Deputy Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. The parliament is a bi-cameral legislature, with the Council of Representatives elected by universal suffrage, and the Consultative Council appointed directly by the king.
WThe Al-Asalah Islamic Society is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society which funds the party. Asalah's leader is Ghanim Al Buaneen, who took over in 2005 from Adel Mouwda, who was sacked because he was perceived to be too close to Shia Islamists in the Al-Wefaq party. Asalah is most popular in the conservative bastions of Muharraq and Riffa. Asala often aligns with Al-Menbar to outvote Al-Wefaq.
WAl Muntada is a Bahrain society set up by academics, journalists and businessmen to promote liberalism in the Kingdom.
WAl-Wefaq National Islamic Society, sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, is a Shi'a Bahraini political party operating clandestinely after being ordered by the highest court in Bahrain to be dissolved and liquidated. Although from 2006 to 2011 it was by far the single largest party in the Bahraini legislature, with 18 representatives in the 40-member Bahraini parliament, it was often outvoted by coalition blocs of opposition Sunni parties and independent MPs reflecting gerrymandering of electoral districts. On 27 February 2011, the 18 Al-Wefaq members of parliament submitted letters of resignation to protest regime violence against pro-reform Bahraini protestors.
WThe Al-Menber National Islamic Society is the political wing of the Sunni Islamist Al Eslah Society in Bahrain and Bahrain's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The president and patron of the Al Eslah Society is Shaikh Isa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a member of the Al Khalifa royal family and former labor minister of Bahrain. Prominent members of Al-Menber include Salah Abdulrahman, Salah Al Jowder, and outspoken MP Mohammed Khalid. The party has generally backed government-sponsored legislation on economic issues, but has sought a clampdown on pop concerts, sorcery and soothsayers. Additionally, it has strongly opposed the government's accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
WThe Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, which was founded by a number of Bahraini activists in June 2002. The centre was given a dissolution order after its former president Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was arrested in September 2004 a day after criticizing the country's Prime Minister, Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah at a seminar in which he blamed the Prime Minister for the failure of widespread economic development for all citizens. The BCHR is still banned by the government, but has remained very active.
WWomen candidates of the 2006 Bahrain election, which took place on the November 25, 2006 were reported to have received numerous threats from Islamic salafist and other factions to prevent them taking part. In all, eighteen female candidates of various political stances and views took part after recent changes to the political system in 2001 allowed women to not only become candidates, but also gave them the right to vote.
WThe Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement, officially Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations is an agreement to normalize diplomatic and other relations between Bahrain and Israel. The agreement was announced by President Donald Trump on September 11, 2020, and followed on from a joint statement, officially referred to as the Abraham Accords, by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020. It was formally signed on September 15, 2020, at the White House in Washington, D.C., and made Bahrain the fourth Arab state to recognize Israel and the second within a month.
WThe Bahraini opposition refers to a group of political groups who are opposed to the Cabinet of Bahrain government and the ruling monarch of the Sunni House of Khalifa. Currently, the Bahraini opposition can be divided into the officially registered political parties, who demand reforms to the current political system, and the unregistered opposition groups. Most of the opposition is comprised from the majority Shia population of Bahrain.
WBahrain has had two constitutions in its modern history. The first one was promulgated in 1973, and the second one in 2002.
WThe Consultative Council, also known as the Shura Council, is the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain.
WThe Council of Representatives, sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain.
WMahdi Isa Mahdi Abu Deeb is the founder and leader of Bahrain Teachers' Association (BTA), and Assistant Secretary-General of Arab Teachers' Union. Due to his role in the Bahraini uprising, he was arrested, allegedly tortured, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was later reduced to five years by an appeals court. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience.
WThe National Assembly is bicameral with the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, having 40 members elected in single-seat constituencies for a four-year term. The upper house, the Shura Council, has 40 members appointed by the King of Bahrain, with the stated aim of giving a voice to minority communities and technocratic experts within the legislative process. Supporters of the system refer to long established democracies the United Kingdom and Canada operating with this bicameralism with an appointed upper chamber and an elected lower chamber. Opponents of this system point out that unlike the bicameral systems in the UK and Canada, the Bahraini system gives the unelected upper house equal or more legislative power than the elected lower house, allowing the King to control all legislation. Opponents also point out that the current system was imposed unilaterally by the King, violating the 1973 Constitution and a 2001 signed agreement with the Bahraini opposition.
WThe Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy is an opposition political organization in Bahrain founded in November 2005 with Hasan Mushaima as its secretary general. Several of its leaders were previously in the leadership of the Al Wefaq society, but it also contains others such as Ali Rabea, a secular nationalist and former member of parliament previously associated with the National Democratic Action Society, and Shaikh Isa Al Jowder, a Sunni cleric.
WAbdulwahab Hussain Ali Ahmed Esmael is a Bahraini political activist, writer, religious figure and philosopher. He was one of the most prominent opposition leaders in the 1990s uprising when he was arrested twice for a total length of five years in which he was allegedly subjected to solitary confinement and torture. After his release in 2001, he supported government reform plans.
WThe Islamic Action Society, sometimes shortened to ʿAmal, is one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appeals to Shīʻa followers of the Islamic philosopher Mohammad Hussaini Shirazi, who are known as "the Shirāzī faction".
WThe Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain was a Shi'a Islamist militant group that advocated theocratic rule in Bahrain from 1981 to the 1990s. It was based in Iran and trained and financed by Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guards.
WSabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa is the first wife of the present King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the mother of the Crown Prince, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
WLesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in Bahrain may face discrimination not faced by non-LGBT persons even though the country legalized homosexuality in 1976.
WList of chairmen of the Consultative Council of Bahrein.
WPolitical parties are illegal in Bahrain but operate as de facto political parties under the term political societies. Political societies in Bahrain range from the communist left to the Islamist right.
WAyatollah Sayyid Hadi al-Husayni al-Modarresi, is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia scholar, leader and orator. He is viewed as a charismatic speaker, enamoring many Muslims, radiating a certain magnetism in his oratory. He spent much of his career in opposition to the Bathist government, and he spent many years in exile, particularly in Bahrain. al-Modarresi returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and administers humanitarian projects in there.
WThe National Action Charter of Bahrain is a document put forward by King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah of Bahrain in 2001 in order to end the popular 1990s Uprising and return the country to constitutional rule. It was approved in a national referendum in 2001, in which 98.4% of the voters voted in favor of the document.
WThe National Union Committee was a nationalist reformist political organization formed in Bahrain in 1954. The committee was formed by reformists in response to sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shia members of the population. Its foundations were laid in the journal, Sawt al-Bahrain, which was founded and published by these reformist figures. The original aims were to push for an elected popular assembly, a codified system of civil and criminal law, the establishment of an appellate court, the right to form trade unions, an end to British colonial influence, and an end to sectarianism.
WAbbas Al Omran is a Bahraini human rights and labor activist. He currently resides in London, England after his arrest, torture, and conviction in Bahrain for political crimes.
WJalila Mohammed Ridha al-Salman (1965) is a Bahraini teacher and vice president of the Bahrain Teachers' Association (BTA). Due to her role in the Bahraini uprising, she was arrested for 149 days, allegedly tortured, and sentenced to 3 years in prison. On 21 September 2012, her sentence was reduced to six months' imprisonment by an appeals court.
WThe Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain began on 14 March 2011 to assist the Bahraini government in suppressing an anti-government uprising in the country. The intervention came three weeks after the U.S. pressured Bahrain to withdraw its military forces from the streets. As a decision by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the intervention included sending 1,000 (1,200) troops with vehicles from Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Al-Khalifa ruling family, marking the first time the GCC used such a collective military option for suppressing a revolt.
WList of speakers of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain.
WWomen's rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad, with women gaining the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections for the first time after the constitution was amended in 2002. The extension of equal political rights has been accompanied by a conscious drive to promote women to positions of authority within government.