Md. Apple Mahmud is Bahrain's sole liberal MP, winning his seat in 2006's

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

when conservative candidates won a landslide victory taking the other thirty-nine seats in Bahrain's forty seat

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. While a member of no political party, he is close to Wa'ad, the main leftist party in Bahrain. His election victory was put down to the backing he received from

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 ...

, which did not put up a candidate in his constituency and instead urged supporters to vote for him. Since his election however he has maintained an independent stance, and at times been critical of proposals put forward by Al Wefaq MPs: when Al Wefaq called for an investigation into the Spring of Culture arts festival over alleged "immorality", Aziz Abul along with parliamentary speaker

Khalifa Al Dhahrani Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani (; born 1942) is a Bahraini politician, who served as Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain. Early life Khalifa Al Dhahrani was born in the town of Riffa, in central Bahrain, in 1942. He graduated fro ...

and Abdullah Al Dossari, were the only three MPs to vote against the proposal. An economist by profession, he is a strong proponent of privatisation of public utilities, urging the government to privatise the oil, gas, real estate, electricity and water industries. He has argued that the move would have benefits both in terms of transparency and competitiveness

Until his election he was head of the Constitutional Committee, which campaigned to overturn the constitutional amendments introduced in 2002. In particular, the Committee objected to the appointed upper chamber of parliament, the Consultative Council, and instead favoured a return to the 1973 unicameral political system with elected MPs sitting in parliament alongside appointed government ministers. Immediately following his election he caused controversy when he told reporters that when he took his parliamentary oath he pledged allegiance to the 1973 constitution rather than the amended 2002 version.Habib Toumi
"Bahraini lawmaker stirs controversy"
''Gulf News'', 6 March 2007 (Accessed 15 April 2013) His announcement was criticised by salafists

Asalah The Al-Asalah Islamic Society () is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society (''Al-Tarbiya Al-Islamiya'') which funds the party. Asalah's leader is Ghanim Al Buaneen ...

and former liberal MP of the defunct

Economists Bloc The Economists Bloc () is a liberal political party in Bahrain which was represented by three MPs in the 2002-2006 parliament, but lost all its seats in the 2006 general election. The party was the most consistent advocate of human rights, democ ...

, Fareed Ghazi, who said Aziz Abul should forfeit his seat. Parliamentary speaker Khalifa Al Dhahrani ignored the call.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abul, Abdul Aziz Members of the Council of Representatives (Bahrain) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)