The National Democratic Labour Action Society – Wa'ad ( ar, جمعية العمل الوطني الديمقراطي – وعد) is Bahrain's largest

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

History and profile

It emerged from the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

, a "radical" clandestine opposition movement of

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...

orientation. Under the reform process initiated by Bahrain's King Hamad, the leaders of the Popular Front returned from exile to participate in the political process through the National Democratic Labour Action (NDLA). The party's origins lie in the split within the Left in the Arab world in the 1960s, between a pro-Moscow camp and a pro-China camp, with the NDLA's leaders backing Beijing. The party is the first licensed political group in any of the

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emir ...

. Historically, the Left in Bahrain had been very strong, partly as a result of the creation of a local

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

through the Kingdom's

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

with the discovery of oil in the 1930s; however the waning of Arab nationalism, the collapse of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

as an ideology and the rise of the Islamist Right have marginalised the NDLA and robbed it of much of its traditional support. The party was established by returning exiles in 2002. The current leader of the party is Fouad Seyadi, who was elected after the general assembly of the party in November 2016. One of the current known figures of the party is

Ibrahim Sharif Al-Sayed Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed ( ar, ابراهيم شريف السيد) is an opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular socialist National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad).Abdul-Rahman Al Nuaimi Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi (1943/1944 – September 1, 2011) was a Bahraini politician and opposition leader. Al-Nuaimi, who spent more than thirty years in self-imposed exile from Bahrain, founded some of the country's most important political opposi ...

. In 2005 the party renamed itself ''Wa'ad'' ( ar, وعد), which translates to "Promise". Other prominent members include: Abdul-Nabi Alekri,

Ebrahim KamalAldeen Ibrahim (also spelled Ibraheem) ( ar, إبراهيم, ) is the Arabic name of the prophet and patriarch Abraham and one of Allah's messengers in the Quran. It is a common first name and surname among Muslims and Arab Christians, a cognate of the ...

Sami Seyadi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

Ali Salih ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

and

Munira Fakhro Munira Fakhro ( ar, منيرة فخرو) is a Bahraini academic and was a candidate in Bahrain's 2006 general election for the opposition Waad. Dr Fakhro is Associate Professor at thUniversity of Bahrain having received her Doctorate in Social Po ...

The party suffered a very disappointing result in 2002's municipal elections when none of its candidates were elected in any constituency. Despite this, the NDLA's leaders are widely respected and retain a great deal of influence in Bahraini society. The party boycotted 2002's parliamentary elections, but took part in the

Bahraini parliamentary election of 2006 General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2006 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 25 November, with a second round on 2 December 2006. Voter turnout was 72% i ...

; among its candidates was its vice president and former

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

academic,

, who contested an

Isa Town Isa Town ( ar, مدينة عيسى, ''Madīnat ʿĪsā'') is a middle class town located in Bahrain, in the north central part of the country. Etymology The name ''Isa'' refers to Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the ruler of Bahrain from 1961 to 199 ...

constituency against Salah Ali of

Al-Menbar Islamic Society The Al-Menber National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية المنبر الوطني الإسلامي, ) is the political wing of the Sunni Islamist Al Eslah Society in Bahrain and Bahrain's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The president and p ...

. In June 2017, the party was banned on terrorism charges. The ban was criticised by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

and Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty International stated that "the suspension of Waad is a flagrant attack on

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

and association".

Organizational structure

The Highest Authority of Wa'ad is its General Assembly which all Wa'ad active members has the right to attend, which hold its meetings every 2 years. The General Assembly elects a Central Committee which holds the legislative power until the next General assembly. The Central Committee elects in its first meeting a General Secretary and a political bureau which act as governing body for the party until the next General Assembly.

References

External links

National Democratic Action

List of Central Committee members, 2006 (from Gulf Daily News)
{{Authority control 2002 establishments in Bahrain Arab nationalism in Bahrain Arab Nationalist Movement breakaway groups Arab nationalist political parties Bahraini uprising of 2011 Banned socialist parties Organizations of the Arab Spring Political parties established in 2002 Political parties in Bahrain Socialist parties in Bahrain

History and profile

Organizational structure

See also

References

External links