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Bahrain This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Bahrain Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Wfaq. ... Image File history File links Bahrain_coa. ... Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy (until 2002 emirate) with an executive appointed by the king, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and a bi-cameral legislature, with the Chamber of Deputies elected by universal suffrage, and the Shura Council appointed directly by the king. ... Constitution King: Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah Prime minister Khalifah ibn Sulman al-Khalifah National Assembly Consultative Council Council of Representatives Political parties Elections: 2006 parliamentary Governorates Women's political rights Foreign relations Other countries • Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society (Arabic: جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; transliterated: Jam'iyat al-Wifaq al-Watany al-Islamiyah) is a political society in Bahrain. It is a Shia Islamist party with 1,500 active members[1]. Led by a cleric, Ali Salman, it bases its appeal on the provision of social services and mosque outreach programmes, campaigns on so-called 'morality issues', and supporting to the direction of King Hamad's political reforms. The party is close to a Shia clerical body in Bahrain, the Islamic Scholars Council, which describes Al Wefaq as the 'Bloc of Believers'[2]. The position of king of Bahrain was created in February 2002 when the then emir of Bahrain Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah gave himself the title of king. ... Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah (born January 28, 1950 in Ar-Rifa, Bahrain) (Arabic: حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة) is the current King of Bahrain (from 2002), having previously been its Emir (since 1999). ... In Bahrain, the Prime Minister is the head of government of the country. ... ‎Khalifah ibn Sulman al-Khalifah (born 1936) is the Prime Minister of Bahrain. ... The National Assembly is the name of both chambers of the Bahraini parliament when sitting in joint session, as laid out in the Constitution of 2002. ... The Consultative Council (majlis al-shura) is the name given to the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain. ... The Council of Representatives (majlis an-nuwab), sometimes translated as the Chamber of Deputies, is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain. ... Political parties from the former Communist Left to the Islamist Right sit in parliament in Bahrain, but are known technically as Political Associations or Blocs. ... The 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. ... Bahrain will hold parliamentary elections on 25 November 2006 for the 40-seat lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, as well as municipal elections, and is currently in the midst of an election campaign. ... The Kingdom of Bahrain, or Bahrain, is a borderless country in the Persian Gulf (Southwest Asia/Middle East, Asia). ... Women’s political rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad with for the first time women being given the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections after the constitution was amended in 2002. ... Bahrain plays a modest, moderating role in regional politics and adheres to the views of the Arab League on Middle East peace and Palestinian rights. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... The Arabic language ( ), or simply Arabic ( ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic and Aramaic. ... Due to the fact that the Arabic language has a number of phonemes that have no equivalent in English or other European languages, a number of different transliteration methods have been invented to represent certain Arabic characters, due to various conflicting goals: A desire to stay consistent with traditional usage... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ... Ali Salman is the president of the Al-Wefaq political society in Bahrain. ... Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah (born January 28, 1950 in Manama, Bahrain) is the current King of Bahrain (from 2002), having previously been its Emir (since 1999). ...

Other prominent Al Wefaq leaders include the head of Manama City Council, Murtada Bader, and Muharraq Councillor, Majeed Karimi, who came to prominence leading the party's campaign against lingerie mannequins in shop windows. Categories: Middle East geography stubs | Bahrain ... Majeed Karimi is a rising young star of Al Wefaq Islamic Action, the main opposition to the government. ... Womens knickers, known in American English as panties Lingerie is a term, derived from the French language, for womens undergarments. ... Categories: Stub ...

Many of Al Wefaq's leaders returned to Bahrain under the reform process initiated by King Hamad when he took over and amnestied all those victims of the 1990s government violence. Its leadership backed King Hamad's National Charter for political reforms after the King assured the country's leading opposition clerics, through a signed statement, that only the elected chamber of parliament would have legislative power, as stipulated by the 1973 Constitution. However the Al Wefaq leadership withdrew support when the ruling regime later announced the 2002 Constitution which mandated a chamber, appointed directly by the King, that would share legislative power with the elected chamber. Al Wefaq boycotted the 2002 parliamentary election, with three other political societies: the former Maoist National Democratic Action Society, the pro-Saddam Hussein Baath affiliated Nationalist Democratic Rally Society and Islamic Action Society. However Al-Wefaq did put forward candidates for the municipal elections that same year - giving an indication of the type of policies that Al Wefaq MPs will pursue when they enter parliament in this year's elections after the party announced that it was ending its election boycott. Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 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. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛泽东思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of the Chinese communist Mao Zedong. ... The National Democratic Action is Bahrains largest Leftist political party, comprised of an alliance between former Communists, socialists and Arab nationalists. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majidida al-Tikriti (Arabic: ‎ [1]; born April 28, 1937[2]), was the President and dictator of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003, when he was deposed during the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Nationalist Democratic Rally Society (in Arabic: Jamiat al-Tajammu al-Qawmi al-Dimuqrati), a political group attached to the Iraqi-based Baath Party in Bahrain. ... The Islamic Action Party is an Islamist political party in Bahrain which is made up of mostly of Shias belonging the Shirazi faction. ...

Recent political campaigns by Al Wefaq's leaders include the forced segregation of men and women at Bahrain University (where the party is represented on the student union) and other so-called 'morality issues', such as underwear hanging on clothes lines and the display of lingerie mannequins. Al Wefaq councillors in Muharraq are also backing changes to the building regulations pushed by salafist party Asalah that would see new apartments fitted with one way windows to prevent residents seeing out. Asalah is the main Salafist party in Bahrain, and after 2002s general election is one of the most well represented in the Kingdoms parliament with seven MPs. ...

The party's policies on race came under scrutiny when its most senior elected leader, Manama Council head, Murthader Bader, called for the introduction of racial segregation in the city with the removal of South Asian nationals from the city to other parts of the country. Racial segregation it was argued would address tensions between locals and third world expatriates that saw race riots against immigrants in March 2004. In 2006, the call was reiterated by Manama councillor Sadiq Rahma who said that Asian labourers 'make the neighbourhood dirty'. The move has been slammed by Bahraini human rights groups as a 'a violation of basic human rights'. Bahrain from space, June 1996 Manama (Arabic: المنامة Al-Manāmah) is the capital city of Bahrain and is the countrys largest city with a population of approximately 155,000, roughly a quarter of countrys entire population. ... A race riot is any riot which occurs due to real or perceived inequality or oppression between members of different races. ...

Like religious parties across the world, Al Wefaq has had to address the relationship between spiritual and secular authority. On the contentious issue of reform of Bahrain’s family laws, Al Wefaq stated in October 2005 that neither elected MPs nor the government has the authority to change the law because these institutions could 'misinterpret the word of God'. Instead, Al Wefaq has insisted that the right to legislate on issues related to women and families is solely that of religious leaders. The demand represents a reversal of Al Wefaq's reasoning behind the boycott of 2002's general election which was on the grounds that only elected MPs in the Chamber of Deputies should have the authority to pass legislation. Chamber of Deputies is the name given to a legislative body, which may either be the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or the name of a unicameral one. ...

In a show of strength against a demonstration by women's rights activists, on 9 November 2005 Al Wefaq jointly organised with clerics a much larger counter demonstration against the Supreme Council for Women's (secular women organization) campaign for the introduction of a personal status law (see Gulf Daily News for details). The Supreme Council for Women is Bahrain’s advisory body to the government on womens issues. ...

2006 elections

See also: Bahraini parliamentary election, 2006

Al Wefaq announced that it would reverse its elections boycott and participate in the 2006 general election. The party hopes to win 12-14 seats in the poll to take place in November 2006. The party has denied that it will not field any women candidates, dismissing the allegations as 'pure speculation'. Along with salafists, such as Ali Mattar, the party objects to the government's ban on candidates using religious sermons to promote their election campaigns. Al Wefaq parliamentary hopeful, Jassem Al Khayat has commented: "The ban is senseless because the mosque, as an integral part of people's daily lives, has always been close to the political scene."[3] Bahrain will hold parliamentary elections on 25 November 2006 for the 40-seat lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, as well as municipal elections, and is currently in the midst of an election campaign. ... Ali Mattar is a salafist Bahraini MP who represents Asalah in the Chamber of Deputies. ...

Both radical Shia and Sunni Islamists were unhappy that Al Wefaq announced it would participate in 2006's parliamentary election. Salafist MP Jassim Al Saeedi campaigned to get the party banned from standing in the poll on the grounds that the party did not recognise the 2002 Constitution. When his demands were rejected by the government, Mr Saeedi accused the Minister of Justice, Dr Mohammed Al Sitri, of being the party's 'front man' and acting as their 'lawyer'. Mr Saeedi told Dr Al Sitri during a session of parliament: "It seems they chose you to be there front man, because you are defending them well." [4] Jassim Al Saeedi MP is a Bahrain salafist member of parliament representing a constituency in Riffa. ...

See also

• Bahrain
• Islamism
• Mannequin
• Politics of Bahrain
• Women's political rights in Bahrain

This article is about political Islamism. ... A pair of mannequins A mannequin (alternately, manikin, mannikin, manakin, dummy, or form) is a life-size, articulated doll mainly used to display clothing. ... Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy (until 2002 emirate) with an executive appointed by the king, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and a bi-cameral legislature, with the Chamber of Deputies elected by universal suffrage, and the Shura Council appointed directly by the king. ... Women’s political rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad with for the first time women being given the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections after the constitution was amended in 2002. ...

External links

• Al-Wefaq website (in Arabic)
• Religious influence in politics sparks concerns, Gulf News, 25 October 2005