The candidate applications are in for the 40 constituencies which make up Bahrain last night, and the surprise/non-surprise is that the constituency 6 of the Southern Governate had only one candidate running, and it happened to be the same lady who ran in the Riffa constituency in 2002 against our beloved Deputy Dawg. She took him to the second round, but then the voters there allowed DD to win by a narrow margin.
She somehow changed her residence to the islands of Hawar, those strips of land rich in bird life (it’s supposed to be a natural reserve with even osprey nesting there habitually) and very rich sea life around it too with the dugong making their home in the deep water channels around the islands. But in that constituency there are only 1,000 voters, and I’m not sure if the dugong and the shags are actually counted too, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say she won fair and square. However, before doing that completely, I must confess my confusion that in an election that every single seat is fought and every single constituency fielding at least 2 candidates, how come the political societies didn’t wake up to the fact that Hawar was up for the taking? Weird. Ah, I know, the very credible CIO refused to give the candidates the voter rolls! I smell shenanigans, but I’ll shut up for now for the sake of making history, and the seat went to someone who I hope will be making not only history (she’s the first in Bahrain and the Gulf to go to an elected parliament, of course saying the Gulf here is pretty generous as only Bahrain and Kuwait have elected chambers, but if count Iran in it then they’ve had women in their parliament for a while now, and so does Iraq. Okay, let me rephrase that to the GCC then.)
So she won now, and I am very happy for her as she an able lady, with a host of credentials and experience to make a difference especially in the Financial Affairs Committee as she held a position within the Ministry of Finance prior to her winning the seat by default. The “Ministry of Finance” bit worries me too… with all due respect to the lady, I do hope that she will be impartial to her previous employers when the time comes for her to scrutinize the budget and be partial to questioning her erstwhile masters with courage and alacrity.
Onward we go to the “proper” elections where we await the welcoming of 39 persons into the chamber, and I do sincerely hope that that dickhead Dhahrani doesn’t get in again, but rather than Salman bin Sager there instead. The former proved his complete and utter uselessness not only in the past parliament, but in the full 16 years he has been with the Shura council previously.
Nov 25th, pray what will you give us?
Comments
O History, a Bahraini woman was elected by camels and lizards
I don’t care if it’s flowers and trees, it’s all good in the long run!!
not only is he running, apparently, he’s got his eye on the top spot again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
=O =O =O
“rather than Salman bin Sager there instead”
Really Mahmood? You want another one of ’em boys in our parliament this time, but why? Haven’t you read the AlWatan News article about him stampeding past the other runners and declaring I AM AL-KHALIFA! Honestly, I am no more a fan of Dhahrani himself than I am to this new character, well not really new since it’s a very typical Al-Khalifa thing, you know the whole mighty pride and arrogance. I am not making a statement about all Al-Khalifas, only the many many who act the same way as this guy!
My Vote is not going to Salman, unless anyone could persuade me otherwise!
😆
The question now: is she gonna live in Hewar island to represent her voters? Definitely not! She’ll need to use a high speed boat daily in that case!
So she’ll go back to her home in Rifaa.
Another point: I wonder why the CIO was so effiecient in relocating her address. Doesn’t that reminde you of the misaries faced by some opposition figures when they opted to relcoate their addresses?
Sorry I forgot to insert my naame above!
😆 Since when did alWatan newspaper became credible? Hello..Bandargate..
مبروك عليها المقعد Ùˆ انشالله تكونقدها Ùˆ ترÙÂع راس المرأة البØÂرينية ….. Ùˆ انشالله هالمرة يطلعونلنا نواب سنع نواب يبيضونالويه مب كل يوم طالعينلنا بهوشة Ùˆ اقتراØÂات غريبة عجيبة …. نبينواب يخدمونالبØÂرينو يبدونالبØÂرينعلى مصلØÂتهم الخاصة Ùˆ ما نبيوزير يقول ÙÂيهم انبعضهم ما يصلØÂونØÂتى يكونونبوابين….. ناطرينيوم 25-11 🙂
make shore you sleep well on your bed Mahmood and cover your self well too, as it seems you have a sort of sleeping mind while awake… I really do not understand what the Bahrainis want more to prove that the government/ruling family is not keen about democracy. It is only a “monopoly” democracy, where the players(including the political societies) think they earn a lot, but in fact they earn nothing!
it is time to wake up!
or, sleep well
..and Firsts we always are, as Bahrainis, we now shall have THE first lady representative in the glorious parliament, speaking on behalf of 1,000 human heads, the birds and the oryxes… splendid..
it’s a gambling game as far as i see it.. should be a very interesting 25th November..
if you sit far away and squint, the pic looks like the mona lisa!!
“Since when did alWatan newspaper became credible? Hello..Bandargate..”
Good point! In fact, the next day Mr.Salman Sager denied the report in which he said he never did such a thing because he never looks at himself as a member of the Royal family but instead just a bahraini citizen wanting to serve his people (can’t you smell the political scent already)! I personally do not know the guy, but based upon the story, being that the district judge filed a case against him in court and Mr.Sager decided to sue the newspaper who published the report (AlWatan that is).. I sit back and ask myself, if Mr.Sager is 100% innocent as he claims, then why would he have a pending case against him in court.
Now don’t panic guys because Mr.Sager will still be able to run since of course he has that very special last word to his name.. And you can bet your life’s worth that the court will likely drop the case against him in a matter of seconds since he won’t be able to run if he still has a court case awaiting him.
Oh Well.. What do I know? Maybe the guy is in fact clean and people are just picking on him because he is Royalty..
Gotta love Al-Khalifa. One constituency has 15,000+ people in it and another has 1,000. Plus, it’s really nice that the constituencies are so very delicately sliced in such a way that guarantees that the Shia will remain a minority even if they enter the elections with full force. The fact that the percentage of Shia has gone down in this country from 70%+ to 54% helps too…
Guys, don’t get your hopes up. We all know that the opposition isn’t going to get a majority in the upcoming elections; the government could never stand to see Sh. Ali Salman be the head of parliment. In fact, that’s what the 17,000 phantom mercenaries whose names are on record as legal voters, but who have no houses anywhere to be seen, are for!
Dhahrani will once again be head of parliment, the government loyalists will once again have he upper hand and we’ll once again be sitting behind our computer screens banging our fists and shaking our heads at this miserable situation that we’re in. Everyone’s in kahoots (sp?) with everyone else…The milk is slowly spilling and the tears are slowly forming.
Author
Anony, what does the law say? Did she break that law to get to parliament by default? No. Sure the Supreme Women’s Council played this tactic very nicely indeed, and they might have “persuaded” others from running in that constituency, but that’s another story. Politics is dirty.
I completely agree with your inference that the distribution of constituencies is unfair, but until that is changed, this is the situation that we have and it is incumbant on the whole new parliament to solve this problem.
bahraini4eva: are all your fingers the same? From a family estimated to be more than 1,000, and that is a conservative estimate, you think that there isn’t a single one who could be good? Who stood against the government in the 1973 parliament? So give people some credit.
Bu Khalid the CIO is implicated in a lot of things that it’s not even funny any more, and the continued silence by the authorities is even more worrying now. I agree that if Abdulrahman Al-Noami and Taqi Al-Zeera as well as others have faced tremendous difficulties and/or excuses not to get their residence address changed, then allowing Al-Gaoud to do so raises flags, even if the result is (hopefully) good.
Fatman, I completely agree and propose that we do away with this “constituencies” business altogether. Bahrain is so small that it doesn’t even show when insterted into one district in India! So why not make the whole of Bahrain just one constituency and get people to stand whereever they want? That way we will be proper proportional representation.
Finally, do keep one thing in your minds; though,: any member of parliament does not represent her/his constituency only, s/he represents the whole of Bahrain. They should be continuously reminded of that. People who are exclusively should be concerned about their constituencies are municipal representatives, and even then they have to think and see the big picture to do their jobs properly.
King, where are your people now ?
Chained and pacified.
Tried invain to show them how.
And for that you died.
You had a dream of a promised land.
People of all nations walking hand in hand
But they`re not ready to accept
That dream situation, yet.
King, where are your people now ?
Chained and pacified.
Tried invain to show them how.
And for that you died.
UB40
how much was paid to take AlDowsarry out!!!???
Step forward for democracy!
By REBECCA TORR
GDN (18-10-2006)BAHRAINI Latifa Al Gaoud’s success at becoming the Gulf’s first woman MP met with mixed reaction among MPs and women’s rights activists yesterday.
She won the seat by being the only person in Hawar, the Southern Governorate’s constituency six, to run in the elections.
The majority of comments about her achievement were positive, with people seeing it as a step forward for the country, Arab women and democracy in general.
But others believed the way she gained the seat was unfair because she won it by default and not through the voting system.
Women’s Petition Committee head and women’s rights activist Ghada Jamsheer said she didn’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
“It is not fair for other women running for elections in other constituencies,” Ms Jamsheer told the GDN.
“Other women are talking to members of the public about what they will do and she isn’t.
“Other women are paying for their campaign out of their own pockets, it’s not fair.
“No-one is living in Hawar Island, it’s something really silly.”
Ms Jamsheer claims that Ms Al Gaoud had been positioned to gain the seat to show the world that Bahrain’s parliament had a woman.
“She is similar to women in the Shura Council, who are appointed by the government.”
“So when she’s in parliament, she will support the government not the real people in Bahrain. This kind of women we don’t trust.”
:love: :X 8) =D 🙄 🙂
In the Bahrain Arabic, Daily AlAyam Newspaper, the now MP-Elect, by design, Ms. AlGaud, declared that (i) he does not have her residence in Hawar, and that (ii) the property mentioned in her application for candidacy to the Parliament is in fact owned by (iii) her Guardian Brother, as she also declared, in the same press coverage.
Hence, two questions arise:
(i) is her candidacy still valid in spite of all these serious, prima facie but also bone fide disqualifiers? But who could or would challenge that? Because she won by design – in all and any analysis.
(ii) if her brother is her Guardian, as she publicly stated, then she also publicly conceded that all she is is a Minor – indeed or in the final analysis.
The condolence, I guess, lies in the fact that no downside can be found in a Minor representing (or being appointed and by way of a caesarian procedure in isolation).
On the contrary, Bahrain should be proud of being the only “nation” (is this true?) on earth that is so full of all due difference to its native population of dugongs that it has a quota-appointee in its parliament for it dugong population.
The US so called Operation Deserts Storm had already made the whole world aware of the fact that Hawar and the Rabadh islets – as they are termed (islets) by the extremely credible CIO are habitat to such Bahraini nationals.
Who said that these nationals were given nationality contrary to the laws of Bahrain? No, thier case is very unlike the case of some 17,000-plus of their human voters by proxy! What some readers still need to know though is that some of these islets have areas not exceeding 20 sq. meters in law tide times.
I think women are going to have to rely on the dugong vote if they’re ever to get elected. Sadly, I think she’ll be the only one.
We Suport With Women’s Petition Committee head and women’s rights activist Ghada Jamsheer said :
1-We didn’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
2- It is not fair for other women running for elections in other constituencies
3-Other women are talking to members of the public about what they will do and she isn’t
4-Other women are paying for their campaign out of their own pockets, it’s not fair
Bahrain Women
“are all your fingers the same? From a family estimated to be more than 1,000, and that is a conservative estimate, you think that there isn’t a single one who could be good? Who stood against the government in the 1973 parliament? So give people some credit.”
If you go back and read my comment about the typical Al-Khalifa arrogance and pride Mahmood, you’ll realize that I ended by saying this, and I quote,
“I am not making a statement about all Al-Khalifas, only the many many who act the same way as this guy!”
To add to that, during my previous comments on your blog, I have commented on certain Al-Khalifa members such as our Crown Prince who I stated is a respectful and intellectual gentleman with a bright and solid outlook for his country and people. Also, I have several Al-Khalifa friends and they know more than anything that I have NOTHING against the family as a whole, but just certain people who act in such a way as Al-Watan reported Sager Bin Salman did when storming in and proclaming I AM ALKHALIFA! If you think that that type of behavior is commendable and so he eserves being an MP, then that is your free choice.. As for me, I do not want more drama in our upcoming parliament and I think that it is about time we see action taken to improve the standards of living of all bahrainis, especially the poor who have been living in harsh conditions for ages now..
Peace..
I don’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
I don’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
I don’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
I don’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
Laly Ali
She somehow changed her residence to the islands of Hawar
FRom Help of
the very credible CIO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 😆 😆 :grinnod:
She somehow changed her residence to the islands of Hawar
FRom Help of
the very credible CIO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 :grinnod: 😆 😆 😆
What IS a dugong anyway? =O
Author
bahraini4eva, I didn’t read that last part of your comment, sorry about that. As to getting your stories from Al-Watan.. well, that leaves a lot to be desired.
I miserable looking sea animal. Abit like our new lady MP =P
Author
Learner, read about them here.
accept shmaksept!!!
it is sad that women are opposing this because they should realize that regardless of how she got there, the door is now open for other women.
are these the same women who wanted a quota?? that wouln’t have been fair either, but that is what affirmative action is like,
and you’ll see, when she starts making a difference, never again will the beards be able to say that women belong at home..
there are a lot of unfair things happenning, why is this the only thing that is bothering people, this is probably the one good unfair thing that has happenned..
I would rather have her than a lot of other people any day, at least she has a brain.. which is more than i can say for some of our ex-parliamentarians. some of them should not have the nerve to leave the house and face people after their performance last time.. fist fights, bad language, low class, and witless nonsense..
if someone thinks they have something better to offer than she does, before even giving her the chance to show us what she will do, why didn’t they run???
we need doers, not whiners! go suck a lemon…
MAHMOOD, where are my BOLDS and ITALICS gone????????!!!
I WANT THEM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!I NEED THEM!!!!
Author
whachatalkingaboutgirl? they’rerighttherearen’they? just under the smilies you got Quicktags with a “B” for Bold and and “I” for Italics… unless you’re using a browser that doesn’t like em… could you take a snapshot of your comment box and email it to me to have a looksee?
1) no they are not. it says quicktags but there’s a blank space underneath it.
2) duuuh how do I do that?!!!!!
3) i’m already in enough trouble because i don’t know how i lost my adobe acrobat and i cant seem to find it and i cant download it and i’m sooooo sad coz i don’t want to play hide and seek anymore, everything is hiding from me waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
sorry, but i am obviously extremely lo tech!!!
i don’t suppose you can tell me where my adobe has gone can you??
i know you are cracking up over there. laugh laugh but i WILL get my revenge some day, i promise you.
Author
😆
I’m not going to answer that now.. I’ll just go to bed with a smile on my face, courtesy of CWTN! 😉
g’night! =P
I HATE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mujrim
Can you see the Similarity
This is the Bahraini version of the Monalisa :grinnod:
oh my god, i said that yesterday on this page!!!!!
I might share your view about Mr. Al Dhahrani but I still think that we should still respect him and stop from calling him with inappropriate names.. After all I think Mr. Dhahrani won the elections fair and square.. The upcoming elections will show who is more of the “people favorite guy” esspicially the race between Shk Salman bin Saqer and Mr. Al Dhahrani…
In the litigation against Qatar in which Bahrain lost the gas-rich Fasht el-Dibil but won the booby prize of Hawar Islets, the World Court of Justice dismissed Bahrain’s assertion that it comprised of an archipelago. But, the CIO has never desisted from calling as islets the very things which are so-called islets and which comprise Ms. ElGaud’s constituency (Dept # 6 – South) , i.e. el Doore, Rabadh, Sawad (East), Sawad (West) and Mhazoorah.
Now, if this argument is not valid versus Qatar it is at least equally invalid versus the human electorate population of Bahrain.
CIO, please stop calling these things islets and have any reference to Bahrain being an archipelago removed from school books, to start with. You should find it ever and increasingly harder to find reasons to allocate a seat in Parliament for these things, even if the dugongs weighed in at least 4.5X as much as their human voter counterparts in terms of sheer body weight.
As for the rest of Ms. ElGaud’s constituency (Umjidr, Hadiljamal etc), I have never been aware of any significant being or existence in them which is more noteworthy for political representation purposes than a bunch of lizards, a bunch of camels and goats, and one should expect there exist too an element of tick which preys on the said animals. I would need a lot of convincing that these forms of being care about Bahrain’s Almighty Parliament. In my estimate the cost of a representative appointed by quota – albeit in a disguised format- for them is at least a bad investment, if not a shame in the first place.
Author
Good morning!
Anon, see the thing about respect is that it is earned, not demanded. The Right Honourable Gentleman has not – so far – earned my respect, hence the terms I use to describe him which I actually deem appropriate, colourful it might be, but appropriate nevertheless.
Mahmood, you can say and feel what you want about Al-Dhahrani, but Salman bin Sager is not someone serious. He can make people laugh, mostly at him but lacks the intelligence and the discipline to hold any position in Parliament or Government. Him and his sons have done a wonderful job shoving officials around, and swearing all before the elections even started. Yes he is funny, and I do out of curiosity read the crap he writes everyday, but listening to him is like watching Jerry Springer, or any other freak show, you do it to pass time, and laugh and thats it! .. Mahmood how dare you doubt the existense of population in the South of Bahrain, haven’t you been to Al-Door recently, you can count all 8 or 10 houses on Google Earth!! 🙂 … Anyway my vote this year if I was only in the right area would go to Naji Sabt. Naji is heading up against Al-A9ala’s Top Gun in HIDD. Naji is ex Municipality, and Muharraq Governorate, and he has worked for the EDB for the past 4 years. His BLOG is up on http://najisabt.blogspot.com – and I think this kind of Independent Economic focused candidate is what we need today!!
Author
Agreed Darth, agreed. But even if Salman bin Sagr gets through (which is highly doubtful) there is no way that I would support him to head the council, nor would I support Dhahrani mind you, someone else will more definitely be a lot better at heading that organ. Don’t know who yet, but it won’t be the three that were there during the last term.
Didn’t know about Naji Sabt, thanks for the heads up, I’ll have a look at his blog and add it to bahrainblogs.org
People seem to be getting more upset at our Mona Lisa than about Bandargate!
Hmmm.
Sometimes I think we get the leadership we deserve ..
JJ
absolutely!
that really made me laugh out loud!!
pretty sad, isn’t it????????
Come on give her a break 😆 Maybe she is a vet and she will be taking care of all the wildlife over there ie. Seaguls, Sea cows, Fish, Shrimps and Gazals…
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
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hi again.. quotes from others are more than enough for this post
—————–
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(((((wanna bet that is true????????)))))
———–
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It’s just the beginning guys. We asked for Democracy, now we gotta live with the Hypocrisy.
“We Suport With Women’s Petition Committee head and women’s rights activist Ghada Jamsheer said :
1-We didn’t accept Ms Al Gaoud as the first woman MP because she gained her seat unfairly.
2- It is not fair for other women running for elections in other constituencies
3-Other women are talking to members of the public about what they will do and she isn’t
4-Other women are paying for their campaign out of their own pockets, it’s not fair
Bahrain Women”
who the H**L died and left her as spokeperson? I’m a unisect bahraini woman and I’d die before I let HER speak for ME?
and who the H**L is this WE she keeps referring to?
I am sick of people who believe their opinion represents everyone’s. this is a common trait in our country, sadly.
everyone’s opinion is only their own. stop speaking for others.
“She is similar to women in the Shura Council, who are appointed by the government.â€Â
IMO, SOME of the shura women did us proud, they were concerned with health issues, naturalization, etc. more than SOME elected males thank you very much.
this is not the first time this woman insults other women who IMO have more to offer than her.
I could go on, but it is too easy…
————
Dude… why’s the bad temper??
well I am a guy and I know she represented a lot of people other than YOU when she said what she had to say!
If you really dont want her to talk then go ahead and talk to local newspapers about Bahraini women as long you are a unisect- Bahraini woman.
btw, you can consider me a conservative guy & I should tell you that although Ghada Jamsheer’s comments are not welcomed in the conservative community for some (particular) subjects, but she hit a home run with that comment.
let’s just not get too emotional regarding comments by people.
=D =D
“If you really dont want her to talk then go ahead and talk to local newspapers about Bahraini women as long you are a unisect- Bahraini woman”.
noone speaks for all women as noone speaks for all men. that’s just the point.
I didn’t say that I don’t want her to talk, quite the opposite, I am glad that we are in a place now where some people can talk, i pray for the day when everyone can talk. I may agree or disagree with her on various issues, but she can say whatever she likes. BUT, and this is a very BIG BUT, she speaks for herself, not for anyone else, as anyone else would when they speak. my objection was all this WE business.
As a “GUY”, what would you think if somebody (without referring to what kind of person he is) stood there and said “we” representing all “GUYS”?
so you see it is not a matter of temper, it is a matter of being against sweeping statements made by people who decide that they represent “all women”, “all men”, “all students”, “all Bahrainis”, “all unisects”, “all humans”, “all whatever”. I asked who the H**l was this “we” she keeps referrring to?!
I am not conservative, or liberal or anything, I am someone who doesn’t label people, who thinks about the big picture, as i see it,before making up my mind about things, and when I do, I speak only for myself, and qualify that by saying that it is my opinion. I do object to someone deciding they can speak for everyone, which seems to happen a lot where we come from. we are not clones.
“let’s just not get too emotional regarding comments by people”
there is no emotion. there is objection.
using the “don’t get emotional” card is very patronizing and IMO does not make for reasonable discussion.
i say fuck u mahmood u can come suck on my dick u bastard if i ever see u ill shuve my foot in ur mouth yal bin ga7ba
Author
If you would like to name the time and place, I would avail myself quite readily to this rendezvous. I would be thrilled to meet yet another coward in real life.
Mohammed !!
WHO PULLED YOUR CHAIN ??? that´s quite some low language you have there . I hope, for the sake of those you influence on a daily basis, that it doesn´t reflect an equally low and depraved mind .. ..
AT THE END OF THE DAY MORE WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT CAN ONLY BE A GOOD THING FOR BAHRAIN AND I DON´T MEAN JUST THE FEMALE POPULATION. WOMENS RIGHTS EFFECT SOCIETY AS A WHOLE SO HAVING A WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT INFLUENCING MALE COLLEAGUES ON WOMEN´S ISSUES IS VERY IMPORTANT !!!!
If you need Hillary, just let us know!~
dam inha she was smart enough to change her address be4 anyone else 😛 then i think we should give her some credit