V L Srinivasan
Manama (Bahrain), March 30:
By-elections are likely for vacant Parliamentary seats after the Lower House accepted the resignations of 11 of 18 MPs belonging to the main opposition Al Wefaq bloc yesterday.
Voting on the resignations of seven other members of the same group was postponed.
Sources told DT that the Lower House decided to postpone voting on the seven MPs because they were not involved in anti-Bahrain statements in print or online media.
With the acceptance of the resignation of the current eleven and the expected approval of the remaining seven, 18 of the 40 seats would be empty. The House will decide how to fill these seats and by-elections in 18 constituencies could be one of the options. The Chamber will also need to reconstitute its panels in which most of its committees are chaired by the Al Wefaq MPs who resigned from the House.
The House accepted the resignations of First Deputy Speaker Khalil Ebrahim Al Marzouq, Abduljalil Khalil Ebrahim, Jawad Fairooz Guloom, Mohammed Yusuf Al Mezaal, Sayed Hadi Hasan Moussawi, Salman Abdulla Salem, Abdulmajeed Mohamed Al Sebea, Matar Ibrahim Matar, Ali Mahdi Al Aswad, Dr. Jassim Hussain Ghuloom and Hassan Jumaa Ali Sultan.
The MPs also voted unanimously to postpone the resignations of seven other members from the same bloc including Dr Abdali Mohammed Hasan, Abdul Hussain Ahmed Al Metghawi, Sayed Abdulla Majeed Al Ali, Sayed Mohammed Majeed Shubar, Ali Rasheed Hasan Al Asheeri and Hassan Isa Marzooq.
The Chamber voted to accept the resignation of each of the 11 members separately and urged Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa to take the necessary procedures. With the acceptance of the resignation of the current eleven and the expected approval of the remaining seven, 18 of the 40 seats would be empty. The house will decide how to fill these seats and by elections in 18 constituencies could be one of the options.
The Chamber will also need to reconstitute its panels in which most of its committees are chaired by the Al Wefaq MPs who resigned from the House.
The session was attended by all 22 lawmakers and the voting was held publicly. However, a proposal by some MPs to have an in camera session was rejected by majority of MPs.
The 18 MPs Al Wefaq National Islamic Society resigned a month ago to protest against the government’s decision on dealing with protests that resulted in the death of some of protesters in the mid of February.
When Al Wefaq MPs handed their resignations en masse on February 27, MPs from other political blocs deferred voting on the same for two months expecting the resigned MPs to reconsider its decision. The calls of many MPs including the Lower House Chairman Khalifa Ahmed Al Dhahrani failed to convince them.
Apparently irked at their stubbornness and the statements being made publicly by the Al Wefaq members against the Government, Many MPs from the remaining three political blocs - Al Asala, Al Manber and Independents - decided to bring forward the voting.
In a statement, the Al Wefaq bloc maintained that the reason behind the resignations was because of its opposition to the crackdown.
The statement also said that it was unable to understand why only 11 of the 18 resignations were accepted and the reason behind it. “Our 18 MPs have received 64 per cent of the votes in last year's elections.
Our MPs will continue to work for people though they are not members of the House,” the statement said.
Manama (Bahrain), March 30:
By-elections are likely for vacant Parliamentary seats after the Lower House accepted the resignations of 11 of 18 MPs belonging to the main opposition Al Wefaq bloc yesterday.
Voting on the resignations of seven other members of the same group was postponed.
Sources told DT that the Lower House decided to postpone voting on the seven MPs because they were not involved in anti-Bahrain statements in print or online media.
With the acceptance of the resignation of the current eleven and the expected approval of the remaining seven, 18 of the 40 seats would be empty. The House will decide how to fill these seats and by-elections in 18 constituencies could be one of the options. The Chamber will also need to reconstitute its panels in which most of its committees are chaired by the Al Wefaq MPs who resigned from the House.
The House accepted the resignations of First Deputy Speaker Khalil Ebrahim Al Marzouq, Abduljalil Khalil Ebrahim, Jawad Fairooz Guloom, Mohammed Yusuf Al Mezaal, Sayed Hadi Hasan Moussawi, Salman Abdulla Salem, Abdulmajeed Mohamed Al Sebea, Matar Ibrahim Matar, Ali Mahdi Al Aswad, Dr. Jassim Hussain Ghuloom and Hassan Jumaa Ali Sultan.
The MPs also voted unanimously to postpone the resignations of seven other members from the same bloc including Dr Abdali Mohammed Hasan, Abdul Hussain Ahmed Al Metghawi, Sayed Abdulla Majeed Al Ali, Sayed Mohammed Majeed Shubar, Ali Rasheed Hasan Al Asheeri and Hassan Isa Marzooq.
The Chamber voted to accept the resignation of each of the 11 members separately and urged Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa to take the necessary procedures. With the acceptance of the resignation of the current eleven and the expected approval of the remaining seven, 18 of the 40 seats would be empty. The house will decide how to fill these seats and by elections in 18 constituencies could be one of the options.
The Chamber will also need to reconstitute its panels in which most of its committees are chaired by the Al Wefaq MPs who resigned from the House.
The session was attended by all 22 lawmakers and the voting was held publicly. However, a proposal by some MPs to have an in camera session was rejected by majority of MPs.
The 18 MPs Al Wefaq National Islamic Society resigned a month ago to protest against the government’s decision on dealing with protests that resulted in the death of some of protesters in the mid of February.
When Al Wefaq MPs handed their resignations en masse on February 27, MPs from other political blocs deferred voting on the same for two months expecting the resigned MPs to reconsider its decision. The calls of many MPs including the Lower House Chairman Khalifa Ahmed Al Dhahrani failed to convince them.
Apparently irked at their stubbornness and the statements being made publicly by the Al Wefaq members against the Government, Many MPs from the remaining three political blocs - Al Asala, Al Manber and Independents - decided to bring forward the voting.
In a statement, the Al Wefaq bloc maintained that the reason behind the resignations was because of its opposition to the crackdown.
The statement also said that it was unable to understand why only 11 of the 18 resignations were accepted and the reason behind it. “Our 18 MPs have received 64 per cent of the votes in last year's elections.
Our MPs will continue to work for people though they are not members of the House,” the statement said.
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