Eighteen parliamentary by-elections were held in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in 2011 following the resignation of 18 MPs from the largest political party in parliament,

Al Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society (; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest court in Bahrain to be dissolved and liquidated. Although from ...

, in protest at governmental actions during the Bahraini uprising. Security forces closed

Pearl Roundabout The Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC Roundabout, known as Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout (Arabic language, Arabic: ', "Roundabout of the pearl(s)"), was a roundabout located near the Central business district, financial district of Manama, B ...

and attacked protestors in the village of

Sanabis Sanabis ( ') is a village located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in the suburbs of the capital city, Manama. Etymology The definition of the word ''Sanabis'' is disputed, with the most popular view being that members of the Sunbus tribe which trace ...

. The elections were held using a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

, with the first round on 24 September and the second on 1 October 2011 in the constituencies where no candidate had received a majority of the vote in the first round.

Background

The lower house of parliament has the authority to pass legislation proposed by the sovereign or the governing cabinet, as well as monitoring authority. The upper, unelected Consultative Council has the power to block legislation from the lower house."Bahrain's Opposition INAA Wins 18 Seats in Parliament," Al-Manar TV, 24/10/2010
Accessed 23/12/2010."Bahrainis Vote for New Parliament amid Political Tensions," Al-Manar TV website, 23/10/2010.
Accessed 23/12/2010. The minority Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty has ruled the majority Shia country since 1783. The Bahraini uprising started in early 2011, with massive protests, occupation of the

, arrests and other responses by police, destruction of the Pearl Roundabout, and entry of the

Peninsula Shield Force The Peninsula Shield Force (or ''Peninsula Shield''; ) is the military arm of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is intended to deter, and respond to military aggression against any of the GCC member countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi A ...

to Bahrain. MPs from

, the largest party in parliament, resigned their seats in protest against the government's responses.

Conduct

On Friday 23 September, dozens of people were arrested and some were badly beaten.

Nabeel Rajab Nabeel Rajab (; born 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition figure. He is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Divi ...

of the

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, On election day, 24 September, hundreds to thousands of protestors gathered in the village of Sanabis with the intention of marching to the Pearl Roundabout, which had been physically occupied by protestors during the Bahraini uprising and whose monument had been destroyed by the authorities in response. Security forces used

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

, stun grenades and rubber bullets against the protestors. Graffiti near a voting station stated "Down with Hamad" and "The people want to bring down the regime".

Results

All of the new winners were independent candidates, unofficially regarded as being pro-

Al Khalifa The House of Khalifa () is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. They profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then r ...

, as they ignored the opposition boycott. Three women were among the new winners. Four seats were won uncontested, five seats were won after voting in the first round of the elections, while the remaining nine were decided by a second round of voting.

Voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 17.4% for the 14 contested districts due to a boycott by

and the rest of the opposition. The government however claimed a turnout of 51%, which was calculated over all 40 electoral districts, including districts where there was no contest in 2011. For the 22 uncontested districts whose MP did not withdraw from parliament, the government used turnout figures from the 2010 election. For districts among these 22 that were uncontested in 2010, the government assumed 100% turnout. For the four uncontested districts whose MP withdrew from parliament, the government also assumed 100% turnout.

References

{{Bahraini elections Elections in Bahrain

By-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

National Assembly (Bahrain) Articles containing video clips