Take time off to cast ballots

As Bahrain heads to polls Saturday, authorities here have directed government entities and public institutions to give employees a one hour time off to cast their ballots. The circular issued direct government entities and public institutions to allow employees to cast their ballots on November 24 and in case of run-offs on December 1.  Announcing the decision, Shaikh Khalid Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Vice-President of the Civil Service Council said the move is aimed at enabling government employees who are on duty on election and re-election days to practice their constitutional rights to vote.

The deputy prime minister called upon government entities to regulate the leave of employees to cast their ballots without affecting the steady flow of work. The interior minister, in a statement, said on Wednesday that authorities had “taken all required steps” to make sure the vote passes off safely.  His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in September urged voters to take part in the vote, in which officials said that 293 people are running for parliament. A municipal poll coincides with the parliamentary vote.

The 40-seat lower house has the authority to examine and pass legislation, while the upper chamber, or Consultative Council, will review and endorse the legislation passed by the lower house. Which means, as per the 2002 constitution, 40 citizens will be elected to the Council of Representatives and they will be joined by 40 royal appointees to the Consultative Council. As per the statistics released by the Executive Committee of the 2018 elections, a total of 365467 citizens have been confirmed eligible to vote in the upcoming elections.

This is as per the voters’ lists confirmed by the High Civil Court of Appeals. The committee said that there are 81892 eligible voters in the 10-constituency Capital Governorate, 79213 in the 8-constituency Muharraq Governorate, 125870 in the 12-constituency Northern Governorate and 78492 in the 10-constituency Southern Governorate. According to experts, one of the most prominent issues that are being talked across the governorates during this election is the topic of Value Added Tax (VAT) and its effects on the general public.

Bahrain is now the third country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to implement the agreement on goods and Services at a rate of 5 per cent, effective from January 1 next year. In February, Minister of Finance Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Khalifa said that Bahrain would introduce a VAT and would have everything set up by the end of 2018 “VAT, health Insurance and housing are the top priority for voters at the moment in all areas in Bahrain. I would say it is a very crucial time that calls for experienced and well-educated professionals when it comes to candidates,” Faten al-Haddad, a Bahraini lawyer who will be voting in the Capital’s fifth district, told Al Arabiya.

In addition to the VAT, one another and also the most prominent characteristics of this upcoming election will be the presence of a record number of women candidates. According to Al Arabia, at least 41 women candidates are contesting this year’s parliamentary election, while eight have filed their candidacy in municipality election. In the last election of 2014, 22 women contested. Candidates from all walks of life and professions are taking part in the election including professionals, celebrities as well as Olympic and Asian games gold medalist, reports say.