National Assembly (Bahrain)

National Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Council of Representatives Consultative Council
Seats	80 members (40 and 40)
Meeting place
Manama
Website
www.nuwab.gov.bh www.shura.gov.bh

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.

It has 80 seats formed from the 40 elected members of the Council of Representatives (the lower house) and the 40 royally-appointed members of the Consultative Council (the upper house).

It is chaired by the Speaker of the Consultative Council, or by the Speaker of the Council of Representatives if the former is absent.

Latest election

 Summary of the 22 and 29 November 2014 Council of Representatives of Bahrain elections results

Party		Ideology	Candidates	Elected - 1st round	Run off	Elected - 2nd round	Elected - Total	Elected - Previous	Elected - Change
	Al Asalah	Sunni Salafist	6	1	3	1	2	3	-1
	Al-Menbar Islamic Society	Sunni Islamist	5	-	4	1	1	2	-1
	Al Meethaq	Liberal	3	-	2	-	-	-	-
	Al Wasat		4	-	2	-	-	-	-
	Al Watan		10	-	2	-	-	-	-
	Al Wasat al Arabi		1	-	1	-	-	-	-
	National Unity Gathering		7	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Al Wefaq	Shia Islamist	-	-	-	-	-	18	-18
	Independents	Various	230	5	54	32	37	17	+20
	Total		266	6	68	34	40	40
Source:

The National Assembly under the 1973 Constitution

Under the 1973 Constitution (Article 43), the National Assembly was a single chamber parliament consisting of forty members elected by "universal suffrage". However, the then Amir, Shaikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah decreed that women would not be considered as "universal suffrage" and were not allowed to vote in the 1973 parliamentary elections.

History of the National Assembly of Bahrain

Main article: Bahraini parliamentary election, 1973

The first ever National Assembly in Bahrain was elected in 1973 under the statutes of the first constitution which was promulgated of that same year. In 1975 the Assembly was dissolved by the then Emir Shaikh Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa because it refused to pass the government sponsored State Security Law of 1974. The Emir subsequently did not allow the Assembly to meet again or hold elections during his lifetime.

Members of the 1973 National Assembly

1. Hassan Al Jishi (President of National Assembly)
2. Khalifa Ahmed Al Bin Ali (Vice-President of National Assembly)
3. Ali Qasim Rabea
4. Isa Ahmed Qasim
5. Abdulhadi Khalaf
6. Rasool Al-Jishi
7. Abdullah Ali Al-Moawada
8. Mohammed Jaber Al-Sabah
9. Ali Bin Ebrahim Abdul Aal
10. Jassim Mohammed Murad
11. Isa Hassan Al-Thawadi
12. Ibrahim Mohammed Hassan Fakhro
13. Abdul Amir Al-Jamri
14. Abdullah Mansoor Isa
15. Alawi Makki Alharkhat
16. Khalid Ibrahim Al-Thawadi
17. Mustafa Mohammed Al-Qassab
18. Abdullah Al-Shaikh Mohammed Al-Madani
19. Abbas Mohammed Ali
20. Yousif Salman Kamal
21. Abdul Aziz Mansoor Al-Aali
22. Hassan Ali Al-Mutawaj
23. Salman Al shaikh Mohammed
24. Ibrahim bin Salman al Khalifa
25. Khalifa Al Dhahrani
26. Mohammed Salman Ahmed Hammad
27. Mohammed Abdullah Harmas (Al Harmesi Al-Hajeri)
28. Mohsin Hameed Al-Marhoon
29. Ali Saleh Al-Saleh
30. Hamad Abdullah Abel

After the death of Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa in 1999, his son Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah, the new ruler of Bahrain promulgated the Constitution of 2002. That same year elections were held for the Council of Representatives and he appointed the members for the Consultative Council, forming the first National Assembly since 1975.

See also

• Council of Representatives of Bahrain
• Consultative Council of Bahrain
• History of Bahrain
• Politics of Bahrain
• Constitution of Bahrain
• List of legislatures by country

External links

• Council of Representatives
• Consultative Council
• 2002 Constitution: Section 3 The Legislative Authority National Assembly
• 1973 Constitution: Chapter II Legislative Power