Al-Wefaq
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Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society (; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
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 ...
i political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest court in Bahrain to be dissolved and liquidated. Although from 2006 to 2011 it was by far the single largest party in the Bahraini legislature, with 18 representatives in the 40-member Bahraini parliament, it was often outvoted by coalition blocs of opposition Sunni parties and independent MPs reflecting
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
of electoral districts.Guide to Bahrain's politics
– 4 September 2008. Ambassador Ereli, US Embassy, Bahrain/Wikileaks/The Guardian
On 27 February 2011, the 18 Al-Wefaq members of parliament submitted letters of resignation to protest regime violence against pro-reform Bahraini protestors. Al Wefaq's religious orientation is
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
and it is led by a cleric,
Ali Salman Ali Salman Ahmed Salman () is a Bahraini Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia Islam, Shi'a cleric and the Secretary-General of the Al Wefaq, Al-Wefaq political society. In January 1995, the Cabinet of Bahrain, Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to ...
. The party is close to a Shi'a clerical body in Bahrain, the Islamic Scholars Council, which describes Al Wefaq as the 'Bloc of Believers'. In 2006, the pro-government English newspaper
Gulf Daily News The ''Gulf Daily News'' is an English-language local newspaper published in the Kingdom of Bahrain by Dar Akhbar Al Khaleej. The paper, which is one of six daily newspapers in Bahrain, calls itself "The Voice of Bahrain". History The ''Gulf ...
alleged that al Wefaq had only 1,500 active members,''
Gulf Daily News The ''Gulf Daily News'' is an English-language local newspaper published in the Kingdom of Bahrain by Dar Akhbar Al Khaleej. The paper, which is one of six daily newspapers in Bahrain, calls itself "The Voice of Bahrain". History The ''Gulf ...
''
Society shifted position to take advantage of political platform
– 20 January 2006
although Al Wefaq itself claims to have 80,000 members and a leaked diplomatic briefing from the US Embassy in Bahrain described Al Wefaq as the largest political society in Bahrain in terms of membership. Al Wefaq boycotted the 2002 general election, the first parliamentary elections held in the country since 1973, claiming that the 2002 constitution gave too much power to the unelected
upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
, the
Consultative Council of Bahrain The Consultative Council (''Majlis al-shura''), also known as the Shura Council, is the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain. The Council comprises forty members appointed directly by the King of Bahrain. ...
, whose members are directly appointed by the King. In the 2006 election Al Wefaq received the backing of the Islamic Scholars Council which helped it win seventeen of the eighteen seats it contested. In the 2010 election, they increased their representation by one seat, winning all the constituencies they contested, to take 18 of the 40 available parliamentary seats. Following the 2011 Arab Spring, Al-Wefaq and other opposition groups boycotted the 2014 election. On 17 July 2016, Saudi-owned
Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
television and international print media reported that Bahrain's highest court had dissolved al-Wefaq and liquidated the group's funds. The decision was condemned by the U.S. State Department.


History

A number of Al Wefaq's leaders returned to Bahrain under the reform process initiated by
King Hamad Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (born 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 1999. He is a member of the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty. Early life and education Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. ...
when he inherited the throne and
pardoned A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
all the political activists of the 1990s political unrest. Its leadership backed King Hamad's National Charter for political reforms after the King assured the country's leading opposition clerics, through a signed statement in the house of a leading religious figure, Sayed Alawi al-Ghuraifi, that only the elected chamber of parliament would have legislative power, as stipulated by the 1973 Constitution. However the Al Wefaq leadership withdrew support when the ruling regime later announced the 2002 Constitution which mandated a chamber, appointed directly by the King, that would have the same legislative power the elected chamber has. Al Wefaq boycotted the 2002 parliamentary
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
, with three other political societies: the former
Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
National Democratic Action Society The National Democratic Labour Action Society – Wa'ad (, NDAS) is Bahrain's largest leftist political party. History and profile It emerged from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, a Marxist-Leninist armed opposition movement ...
, Baath affiliated Nationalist Democratic Rally Society and
Islamic Action Society The Islamic Action Society ( ''Jamʿīyah al-ʿAmal al-ʾIslāmī''), sometimes shortened to ʿAmal (), was one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appealed to Shīʻa followers of the Islamic philosopher Mohammad Huss ...
. Opposition political groups accused the King of unilaterally enacting the constitution though such an important document requiring multilateral agreement in order to be binding. However Al-Wefaq did put forward candidates for the municipal elections that occurred in the same year as they believed that municipal candidates will deal with servicing issues rather than politics which should not be affected much by the changes made in 2002 Constitution. The U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is the head of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor within the United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the Sta ...
,
Tom Malinowski Tomasz "Tom" Pobóg Malinowski (; born September 23, 1965) is an American politician and former diplomat who served as the U.S. representative from New Jersey's 7th congressional district from 2019 to 2023. A Democrat, he served as Assistant S ...
, on a visit to Bahrain in July 2014 was ordered to leave the country after meeting with members of Al-Wefaq. The United States issued a statement reaffirming its support for Bahrain but maintained it was normal diplomatic protocol for its representatives to meet with opposition parties.


Organizational structure


General Conference

The regulatory organ which has the supreme authority, and modifies the statute, and elects the Secretary-General, his deputy, and the members of the Consultative Council, and the arbitral tribunal.


General Secretariat

It is the executive body of the society which is responsible for making the policies, plans & political guidelines & their execution, and taking decisions on the current issues unless it require a decision to be made by the general conference. The Current general secretary is shaikh
Ali Salman Ali Salman Ahmed Salman () is a Bahraini Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia Islam, Shi'a cleric and the Secretary-General of the Al Wefaq, Al-Wefaq political society. In January 1995, the Cabinet of Bahrain, Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to ...
.


Arbitral tribunal

It is a council, which resolves the disputes and disagreements related to the internal activities of the society.


Consultative Council

Its responsibility is to oversee & appraise the performance of General Secretariat and to give reviews about performance levels.


Activities Finance

It is stated in the society's statute the following as means of finance acceptable by law: * Membership annual fees * Earnings and benefits resulting from the investment of its funds * Grants from the state * Donations & contributions above all of this, Al Wefaq has taken a decision prior to 2006 elections mandates all its MPs to contribute 20% of the basic salary toward the society. Basic salary for MPs is 2000 BHD per month thus annual MPs contribution to society amount is $230,000 which forms the biggest portion of society's budget.


Subsidiaries


Bahrain Youth Center

Being the
youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...
of the society, the center is concerned with the issues of youth generation related to politics, social & student affairs. When it was established, the first president was Matar Matar who lately became MP for Al Wefaq.


Presence in the country

*
Hamad Town Madinat Hamad or ''Hamad Town'' () is a primarily commuter city within northern Bahrain. It was a municipality of Bahrain in the central part of the country. Split from the municipality of Ar Rifa' wa al Mintaqah al Janubiyah in 1991, its terri ...
* Al Zinj * Al Qufool


Political ideology

As with any religious party in the world, Al Wefaq has had to address the relationship between spiritual and secular authority. On the contentious issue of reform of Bahrain's family laws, Al Wefaq stated in October 2005 that neither elected MPs nor the government has the authority to change the law because these institutions could 'misinterpret the word of God'. Instead, Al Wefaq insisted that the right to legislate on issues relating to women and families is solely that of religious leaders. Further, the society's legislators argued that the political landscape in the country, where electoral districts are drawn to reflect wishes of the authorities, could not guarantee future non-interference by the authorities for modify the law to meet their agenda. There have been some differences among western analysts as to the role played by ideology in Al Wefaq's agenda: according to Dr Toby Jones of
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
, "Al Wefaq does not espouse a specific ideological vision"; while Steven Cook of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
has described Al Wefaq's policies towards women as "outrageous". In a show of strength against a demonstration by women's rights activists, on 9 November 2005 Al Wefaq jointly organised with clerics a much larger counter demonstration against the Supreme Council for Women's (secular women organization) campaign for the introduction of a personal status law. MPs from the society (and the main opposition group) walked out of the Bahrain parliament on 8 May 2007 in protest after their request for a corruption investigation of State Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, a member of the royal family, was denied. The forty-member lower chamber dismissed the motion as only nineteen lawmakers voted in favor of the investigation, two votes short of the majority needed. Ever since entering into the 2006 parliament, Al Wefaq had undertaken steps to go after individuals widely accused wrongdoing activities such as financial and administrative corruption and discriminatory practices.


Participation in The National Council


2002 elections boycott

Al Wefaq boycotted the 2002 general election, the first parliamentary elections held in the country since 1973, for many reasons including : # that the 2002 constitution came with sole discretion of King Hamad where he made major changes to the constitution of 1973 without voting on it by Bahraini citizens. # the unelected upper house, the Consultative Council of Bahrain, has been given similar powers to the elected Parliament Council although its members are directly appointed by the King. #Unfair distribution of population among
Electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
by which in some cases the vote of one citizen in an
Electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
is equal to the vote of 16 citizen in another district.


2006 elections

Al Wefaq announced that it would reverse its elections boycott and participate in the 2006 parliamentary election. The party hoped to win 12–14 seat

in the poll to take place in November 2006. The party has denied that it will not field any women candidates, dismissing the allegations as "pure speculation". Along with Salafists, such as Ali Mattar, the party objects to the government's ban on candidates using religious sermons to promote their election campaigns. A noted religious figure from Al Wefaq, Jassim Al Khayat, has commented: "The ban is senseless because the mosque, as an integral part of people's daily lives, has always been close to the political scene

Salafist MP Jassim Al Saeedi campaigned to get the party banned from standing in the poll on the grounds that the party did not recognize the 2002 Constitution. When his demands were rejected by the government, Mr Saeedi accused the Minister of Justice, Dr Mohammed Al Sitri, of being the party's 'front man' and acting as their 'lawyer'. Mr Saeedi told Dr Al Sitri during a session of parliament: "It seems they chose you to be their front man, because you are defending them well.

The parliamentary election campaigns of Al Wefaq members put many of the current hot issues in the political scene to the surface. For example, Al Wefaq extensively used the Bandargate scandal in its campaigns and promised to question and punish those responsible for it. Moreover, Al Wefaq raised serious concerns over the election results and questioned many aspects of the election process. Indeed, accusations of fraud as well as the lack of transparency were raised shortly before the start of elections. 17 out of 18 candidates from Al Wefaq won the 2006 parliamentary elections. 62% of Bahraini voters voted for Al Wefaq and they hold 42.5% of the seats in the elected chamber of the parliament (out of a total of 40 seats) making them the strongest political party in Bahrain in terms of the number of supporters and representatives in the elected chamber of the parliament. In addition, Al-Wefaq backed liberal candidate secured another seat.


2010 elections

Following a wave of arrests prior to the election, ''Al Wefaq'' won at least 18 of the 40 seats to the lower house.
Though representing 45% of the seats, the legislators had secured 64% of the popular vote. The difference reflects gerrymandering of electoral districts in the absence of universal principle of one person one vote. Voters in five districts won by Al Wefaq independently surpassed the number of voters in five other districts collectively. Incumbent MPs who succeeded achieving landslide victories in 2010 parliamentary elections were: * Khalil Al-Marzooq * Abduljalil Khalil * Jawad Fairooz


Withdrawal of the parliament bloc in 2011

On 18 February 2011, Al Wefaq pulled its parliament bloc which consists of 18 MPs out of total 40 MPs following the killing of two protesters by the Bahraini police during the Bahrain uprising.


Electoral history


Council of Representatives elections


See also

*
List of Islamic political parties Below are lists of political parties espousing Islamic identity or political Islam in various approaches under the system of Islamic democracy. Islamic democracy refers to a political ideology that seeks to apply Islamic principles to public pol ...
*
List of political parties in Bahrain Political parties are illegal in Bahrain but operate as ''de facto'' political parties under the term political societies. Political societies in Bahrain range from the communist left to the Islamist right. Current Banned Parties register ...


References


Further reading


The Suspension of Wefaq: A Triumph for Democracy in Bahrain
Khalifa Alfadhel,
openDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...
18 August 2016.
The Victory of Al Wefaq: the Rise of Shiite Politics in Bahrain
Mohammed Zahid Mahjoob Zweiri Research Institute for European and American Studies Research Paper 108, April 2007 (Athens)
Fixing the Kingdom: Political Evolution and Socio-Economic Challenges in Bahrain
Steven Wright, Center for International and Regional Studies at George Town University 17,2008 (Qatar)


External links


Al-Wefaq Official website
(in Arabic) {{Authority control Political parties in Bahrain Organizations of the Arab Spring Bahraini uprising of 2011 Shia Islamic political parties Political parties established in 2001 2001 establishments in Bahrain 2001 establishments in Asia Political parties disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in Asia Banned Islamist parties Politics of Bahrain