General elections were held in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
for the first time on 12 December 1973. 30 seats out of the 44-seated
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
were contested, the other 14 were
ex officio.
Of the 24,883 registered voters, 19,509 cast a ballot, giving a voter turnout of 78.4%.
[Nohlen et al., p54]
Two distinct political blocs amongst the elected members; the "People's Bloc" consisted of eight Shia and Sunni members elected from urban areas and associated with left-wing and nationalist organizations, including the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, the
National Liberation Front – Bahrain
The National Liberation Front—Bahrain ( ar, جبهة التحرير الوطني—البحرين) is a communist party in Bahrain. It was founded on 15 February 1955, the first leftist party in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Among the ...
or the
Baathist movement. The 'Religious Bloc' was made up of six Shia members mostly from rural constituencies. The remaining members were independents with shifting positions.
Electoral system
The elections were held under the
1973 constitution. The 44-seat
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
had thirty members elected by a franchise restricted to male citizens, with an additional 14 ministers of the royally-appointed government becoming
ex officio members.
[Bahrain](_blank)
Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...
, 2004, Kessinger Publishing
Kessinger Publishing LLC is an American print-on-demand publishing company located in Whitefish, Montana, that specializes in rare, out-of-print books. According to Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services at a bibliographic inform ...
, pp 97 - 98
Elected members
The elected members of the 1973 national assembly were:
Aftermath
In 1975 the Assembly was dissolved by the then ruler Sheikh
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (; 3 June 1931 – 6 March 1999) was the first emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999.
Born in Jasra, Bahrain, he became emir upon the death of his father, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Early life and reign ...
because it refused to pass the government sponsored
State Security Law of 1974
Following Bahrain's independence from the British in 1971, the government of Bahrain embarked on an extended period of political suppression under a 1974 State Security Law shortly after the adoption of the country's first formal Constitution i ...
. Isa subsequently refused to allow the Assembly to meet again or hold elections during his lifetime. The
next parliamentary elections were held in 2002 after a gap of 27 years. During that period,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
was run by the royally-appointed government under emergency laws.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahraini general election,1973
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
General election
1973 general election
Non-partisan elections