Parliament Expected to Return for Final Session in October
MPs face a final-session race to clear a heavy stack of laws and spending plans when Parliament returns in October, with the state budget, corporate tax and the choice of a new First Deputy Speaker high on the list.
Parliamentary sources told The Daily Tribune that the National Assembly, comprising the Council of Representatives and Shura Council, is expected to return on Sunday, October 11, for the fifth and final convening period of the current legislative term.
The return is formally called by Royal Order, in line with the Constitution, which provides for His Majesty the King to summon the National Assembly into session.
For MPs, one of the first battles will be over who takes the First Deputy Speaker’s chair.
The post has been vacant since Abdulnabi Salman lost his parliamentary membership in May. The vote is expected at the first sitting of the Council of Representatives, likely on October 13.
Three names have emerged as frontrunners: Dr Hisham Al Ashiri, Financial and Economic Affairs Committee chairman Ahmed Al Salloom and MP Zainab Abdulameer.
Money will also weigh heavily on the session.
The corporate tax project is expected to return to Parliament alongside the state budget, while MPs are also due to consider plans for a national fund to support small and medium-sized firms.
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee is meanwhile studying amendments to penalties linked to terrorism offences before the measure goes through its remaining parliamentary stages.
Another bill would slash the wait for criminal rehabilitation. For felonies, the period would fall from two years to three months. For misdemeanours, it would drop from one year to one month.
MPs are also due to vote on a new government-drafted building law carrying fines of up to BD50,000.
Under the bill, the minister would be able to bar building work during specified hours, while the authorities could order unlawful construction to be removed.
Away from law-making, MPs are expected to press for progress on several public projects.
They include the redevelopment of Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah Highway, where work is expected to begin in early 2027, upgrades to Sitra Central Market and plans to improve aid for fishermen.
Electricity bills will return to the political agenda too.
MPs have called for changes to the way subsidies are worked out for extended households and properties occupied by two or more Bahraini families who each qualify for support.
They are awaiting ministerial replies after asking for the system to take account of the true make-up of families living under one roof.
Sources expect the final session to be crowded with laws and public-service files that have built up over recent months, as MPs try to clear as much unfinished business as possible before the current legislative term ends.
Related Posts