2010 Bahraini general election

General elections were held in Bahrain in October 2010 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 23 October, with a second round on 30 October. Amidst boycotts and arrests, Al Wefaq won 18 of the 40 seats. Four women were elected.

2010 Bahraini general election

23 October 2010 (first round) 30 October 2010 (second round)

All 40 seats in the Council of Representatives

Party Leader Seats +/– Al Wefaq Ali Salman 18 +1 Al Asalah Ghanim Al Buaneen 3 −2 Al-Menber Salah Ali 2 −5 Independents – 17 +6 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Campaign

The main opposition party Haq Movement and several other opposition parties such as the Al-Wafa Islamic Movement, Bahrain Freedom Movement, Khalas Movement and Islamic Action Society called for a boycott of the elections, on the grounds that participation would be "tantamount to accepting the unjust sectarian apartheid system."

There were also further arrests and repressions of the Shia majority. Shia political activists and international human rights watchdogs warned of a "drift back to full-blown authoritarianism." However, Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa claimed the arrests were "not linked to elections." Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Project on Middle East Democracy noted government arrests and repressions ahead of the election.

The head of the Al Wefaq party, Ali Salman, said the government should be shared with the people, in what was seen as an open challenge to the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty. "It is unacceptable that power be monopolised by a single family, even one to which we owe respect and consideration. We look forward to the day when any child of the people, be they Sunni or Shia, can become prime minister."

Conduct

A total of 292 Bahraini observers from non-governmental organizations monitored the elections, though foreign observers were not allowed.

Allegations were made of problems on election day; Al Wefaq's Sheikh Ali Salman claimed at least 890 voters were not allowed to vote in mostly Shia districts because their names were absent from electoral lists. "This is not the full number. We expect it to be higher." The party tallied up the voters who said there were not allowed to vote, in order to use these numbers to challenge to the official results. The opposition also expressed concern that the authorities used the votes of military personnel in favour of some candidates at the expense of others in an "exploitation of general positions."

Results

More than 318,000 were eligible to vote. Head of the electoral commission and Justice Minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa, gave an estimate of turnout of "at least 67 percent," less than the 72% in 2006 and 53.4% in 2002. 127 candidates stood in the election.

Al Wefaq won 18 of the 40 seats, one more than the previous election. Shia and independent candidates won a majority of seats for the first time.

Party		First round			Second round			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Al Wefaq			18			0	18	+1
	Al Asalah			2			1	3	–2
	Al-Menber Islamic Society			0			2	2	–5
	Independents			11			6	17	+6
Total				31			9	40	0
Registered voters/turnout		318,668	–		171,000	–
Source: IPU

Winning candidate by constituency

Governorate	District	Candidate	Party		First round		Second round
					Votes	%	Votes	%
Capital	1	Adel Assoumi		Independent	1,878	65.32
	2	Khalil Al Marzooq		Al Wefaq	2,141	58.40
	3	Hadi Al Mousawi		Al Wefaq	1,926	85.64
	4	Abduljalil Khalil		Al Wefaq	Elected unopposed
	5	Mohammed Mezel		Al Wefaq	1,667	67.24
	6	Abdulrahman Bumajeed		Independent	1,144	56.89
	7	Abdulmajid Al Sebea		Al Wefaq	1,842	63.45
	8	Jameel Kadhim		Al Wefaq	2,818	86.20
Muharraq	1	Adel Al Maawda		Al Asalah	Elected unopposed
	2	Abdul Hameed Al Meer		Independent	1,357	43.83	1,737	58.60
	3	Ali Ahmed		Al Menber	1,140	37.11	1,675	55.03
	4	Mahmood Al Mahmood|		Independent	1,904	26.41	3,418	52.58
	5	Isa Al Kooheji		Independent	1,891	57.62
	6	Ali Al Asheeri		Al Wefaq	4,422	83.77
	7	Othman Sharif		Independent	4,562	55.72
	8	Ghanem Al Buainain		Al Asalah	2,099	42.85	2,774	59.49
Northern	1	Matar Ibrahim Matar		Al Wefaq	7689	85.72
	2	Ali Al Aswad		Al Wefaq	6,577	87.71
	3	Abdul Hussain Al Metghawi		Al Wefaq	6,523	89.98
	4	Hassan Al Dossari		Independent	1,545	57.82
	5	Mohammed Majeed		Al Wefaq	5,132	86.76
	6	Mohammed Ismail Al Ammadi		Al Menber	3,263	45.22	3,777	56.82
	7	Jassim Hussain		Al Wefaq	5,107	59.03
	8	Jawad Fairooz		Al Wefaq	5,954	54.99
	9	Hassan Sultan		Al Wefaq	8,814	89.43
Central	1	Salman Abdullah Salem		Al Wefaq	6,175	67.49
	2	Abdullah Al Aali		Al Wefaq	7,242	88.99
	3	Adnan Al Maliki		Independent	1,875	45.18	2,533	59.36
	4	Isa Al Qadhi		Independent	3,237	43.13	3,905	55.99
	5	Abdali Mohammed Hassan		Al Wefaq	3,501	56.65
	6	Hassan Isa		Al Wefaq	5,308	91.96
	7	Abdulhalim Murad		Al Asalah	3,178	55.9
	8	Ali Zayed		Independent	3,108	39.75	3,888	50.20
	9	Khalifa Al Dhahrani		Independent	3,586	77.42
Southern	1	Jassim Al Saeedi		Independent	2,538	62.71
	2	Abdullah Huwail		Independent	1,194	52.44
	3	Ahmed Al Mulla		Independent	968	30.6	2012	71.99
	4	Abdullah Al Dossari		Independent	Elected unopposed
	5	Khamis Al Rumaihi		Independent	Elected unopposed
	6	Lateefa Al Gaood		Independent	Elected unopposed
Source: Bahrain Commission for Legislation and Legal Opinion and Alwasat Newspaper

Reactions

Shia cleric and MP Sheikh Ali Salman lauded the result and called for a "more positive" stance from the government. "The most important message for the government is that Al Wefaq (INAA) is the largest political association in Bahrain. The people's will must be respected and dealt with positively."

Analysis

A local analyst, Obaidaly al-Obaidaly, said the press campaign that accompanied the arrests resulted in a favourable outcome for Al Wefaq. "The Shiites who were hesitant or intended to boycott the elections voted overwhelmingly in favour of Al Wefaq, the representative of their community. Baqer al-Najar, a sociology professor at the University of Bahrain also said "The way the media handled the security situation which prevailed prior to the elections unexpectedly raised Al Wefaq's shares. Shiites felt that they were targeted so they voted intensely for Al Wefaq despite their restlessness with its performance throughout the past four years."

Aftermath

Following the 2011 Bahraini protests, all 18 Al Wefaq MPs resigned from parliament.